Welcome to the West Yorkshire Hepatitis C Virus Operational Delivery Network special edition newsletter for celebrating World Hepatitis Day (WHD). Although coronavirus has significantly impacted upon our activities there have been some opportunities to celebrate world hepatitis day around the ODN area. In this edition we have a roundup of articles and activities for WHD.
Dr Mark Aldersley
Consultant Hepatologist
Clinical Lead WYHCVODN
Partnership working is helping to save lives of those living with Hep C
World Hepatitis Day is commemorated each year on 28 July to help raise awareness of the global burden of viral hepatitis. There are five main strains of the hepatitis virus: A, B, C, D and E. Together, hepatitis B and C are the most common cause of deaths, with 1.3 million lives lost each year. In England, an estimated 89,000 people are chronically infected with hepatitis C (HCV), with many drawn from marginalized and underserved groups in society.
Together, hepatitis B and C are the most common cause of deaths, with 1.3 million lives lost each year. In England, an estimated 89,000 people are chronically infected with hepatitis C (HCV), with many drawn from marginalized and underserved groups in society. Latest data suggest significant reductions in the prevalence of chronic HCV infection in England, but chronic infection remains stable in those who are injecting drugs. Increasing numbers of people who inject drugs have evidence of exposure and clearance of HCV infection, suggesting that increased access to treatment, rather than improved harm reduction, is holding levels of chronic infection stable in this important group who are at risk of transmitting the virus. Substantial progress has been made towards the World Health Organization elimination target to reduce HCV mortality by 65% by 2030, but further work is needed.
World Hepatitis Day 28 July 2020
Below is a roundup of activities showing how West Yorkshire ODN celebrated.
BRI and Bradford buildings to turn purple to mark World Hepatitis DayC
LANDMARK buildings throughout Bradford – including Bradford Royal Infirmary – will be lit up purple tonight to mark World Hepatitis Day (July 28).
And Bradford Teaching Hospital’s own specialist Hepatology team hope the event will shine a spotlight on Hepatitis C, a ‘silent infection’ which, if left untreated, can cause scarring of the liver (cirrhosis) and liver cancer. Rhian Simpson, Lead Hepatology Clinical Nurse Specialist at Bradford Teaching Hospitals, said: “There arepeople who are carrying Hepatitis C but don’t know it, and who don’t know we can cure them. Rhian Simpson, Lead Hepatology Clinical Nurse Specialist at Bradford Teaching Hospitals, said: “There arepeople who are carrying Hepatitis C but don’t know it, and who don’t know we can cure them.
“Since new treatments for the condition were licensed in England in 2015, we have treated 617 patients at BRI, but we know there are still more people out there with the condition, and we encourage people to come forward and contact their GP to get screened if they think they may have been exposed to Hepatitis C. Screening is carried out via a simple blood test.” Hepatitis C often lies undetected for years until the virus damages the liver enough to cause liver disease.
BRI and Bradford buildings to turn purple to mark World Hepatitis Day
LANDMARK buildings throughout Bradford – including Bradford Royal Infirmary – will be lit up purple tonight to mark World Hepatitis Day (July 28).
To read the full article on Bradford Teaching Hospital website click here
Celebrating World Hepatitis Day in Leeds
Landmarks across the county are lighting up in purple, to raise awareness of Hepatitis C on 28 July. Plans were put in place for local landmarks including the Leeds Arena, Leeds Town Hall, Leeds Civic Hall and Leeds City Museum to be lit up to mark the day, along with hospitals including St James’s Hospital Chapel, Leeds General Infirmary Brotherton Wing and Bradford Teaching Hospitals entrance. In Millennium Square a campaign video by drug and alcohol charity Forward Leeds was also played all day. Patients with Hepatitis C in West Yorkshire are treated by specialist teams who are part of the West Yorkshire Hepatitis C Virus Operational Delivery Network. Weekly prison in-reach treatment is also provided by Viral Hepatitis Clinical Nurse Specialists to each of the four prisons in the area.
The specialized network manages services, provides referral pathways and treatment to patients with the Hepatitis C virus using Direct Acting Antiviral medication. It is hosted by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and also includes Bradford Teaching Hospitals, Airedale NHS Foundation Trust and Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the teams working across the network have had to adapt the care they provide, including visiting patients at home, arranging telephone appointments and supporting homeless patients in Leeds.
Teams from Bevan Healthcare, Leeds Teaching Hospitals and The Hepatitis C Trust have worked in collaboration to test groups of vulnerable and homeless individuals who are currently housed in temporary accommodation around the city due to the coronaviruspandemic. On testing days around 20 to 30 people met with the team to be tested and some individuals have already started hepatitis C treatment to cure them of the virus.
Tracey Stirrup Clinical Nurse Specialist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a unique set of circumstances which enabled the Leeds Viral Hepatitis team to take their outreach service directly to vulnerable and homeless people in Leeds. During the pandemic this group have been housed in temporary accommodation meaning that the team could find patients who previously had not engaged with testing or treatment for Hepatitis C. This has only been possible through multi-agency collaboration between LTHT, The Hepatitis C Trust and the Bevan HealthCare Street outreach team.
”It is estimated that 89,000 people in the UK are living with hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus which can cause serious and even fatal damage to the liver if left untreated, among other health impacts. Despite this, around two-thirds of those with hepatitis C are living with an undiagnosed infection. The most common route of transmission is through sharing equipment for injecting drugs. Other risk factors include receiving medical and dental care in countries with poor sterilization practices, tattooing in unlicensed premises, sexual activity involving blood-to-blood contact, and having received a blood transfusion or blood products through the NHS prior to 1991.
Referral for testing is available through GPs, and support and guidance is available from The Hepatitis C Trust via a helpline staffed by people with direct experience of hepatitis C. Since 2015, treatments with short durations, limited side-effects and cure rates upwards of 95% have been widely available. The UK is committed to eliminate hepatitis C as a public health concern by 2030 at the latest.
Supporting World Hepatitis Day
To support the activities planned for World Hepatitis Day, Gilead Science provided the ODN with 10 campaign boxes for service providers and ODN Partners.
Each box contained:
- Educational posters
- Educational leaflets
- Speech bubble cards
- T-shirts to raise awareness
Frances Barrowclough, Senior Manager Patient Access to Care – from Gilead Science said,
“We have looked to support the ODN this year, by working closely with ODN Manager Diane Williams to coordinate the dissemination of Be Free of Hep C materials to Drug Treatment Services, and hospitals across the region to mark World Hepatitis Day. Continued awareness raising will play a key role in ensuring HepC Elimination remains a top priority, and will support the revival of the programme across Drug Services. It’s fantastic to see the incredible efforts and lengths that everyone has gone in making WHD a success this year in West Yorkshire, a great collaborative effort”.
The boxes were distributed to the following providers and Trusts.
- Turning Point
- CGL Bradford
- Airedale NHS Trust
- Forward Leeds
- Recovery Steps Calderdale
- York Street GP Practice Leeds
- LTHT Viral Hep Team
- Bradford Hospitals Viral Hep team
The ODN would like to thank Gilead for the campaign boxes
The Hepatitis C Trust – Everest Challenge
To promote World Hepatitis Day the Hepatitis C Trust peers undertook a challenge to virtually climb the height of Mount Everest with the help of their teams across the country. Locally, John Fox, Shabana Begum and some of their volunteer team met the challenge by walking up to the Castle Hill landmark in the Kirklees area to contribute to the national challenge. (keeping socially distanced of course!) Below are photos of the day, well done to all involved.
Landmarks Light Up for World Hepatitis Day
Huddersfield & Calderdale
Leeds Landmarks
Bradford Landmarks
To show support for the day the ODN admin team turned our website purple to support the day. The loading page background was changed from the usual blue background to purple.
And finally, to showcase all the buildings that were lit up across West Yorkshire in support of World Hepatitis Day we have put together photo montages of all the places and people celebrating the day. These can be found on our website https://westyorkshirehcvodn.nhs.uk/