Hot off the press !!!!!

Adapted extract from Commons Hansard, 22nd March 2001.

Hepatitis C questions in the House of Commons.

Ms Church: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how he plans to build on the strategic approach to hepatitis C. [155540]
Yvette Cooper: The Department of Health is setting up a new steering group with the following terms of reference:
To oversee development of the Department's strategic approach to hepatitis C by bringing together issues relating to prevention, control and treatment and to produce a document within the year, for consultation with the NHS, professional bodies and the voluntary and community sectors.

The proposed membership of the Steering Group is as follows:

Chairman

Professor Howard Thomas, Imperial College School of Medicine, London and Chairman, Advisory Group on Hepatitis

Members (alphabetical order)

Mr Jim Camp, Needle Exchange Forum

Ms Hannah Cinamon, Health Promotion England

Professor Chris Day, Medical School, Newcastle University

Ms Jo Guy, Hepatology Nurse Specialist, Southampton General Hospital

Dr Paul Hatton, Consultant in Communicable Disease Control, Leeds Health Authority and member, 'Advisory Group on Hepatitis'

Ms Lorraine Hewitt, Member of 'Action on Hepatitis C' and member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD)

Mr Nigel Hughes, British Liver Trust, & member of 'Action on Hepatitis C'

Dr Will Irving, Department of Microbiology, University of Nottingham and member of the 'Advisory Group on Hepatitis'

Mr Grant McNally, National Drug Users Development Agency & Member of 'Action on Hepatitis C'

Dr Mary Ramsay, Public Health Laboratory Service Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre

Professor Gerry Stimson, Centre for Research on Drugs and Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, London, & President of 'Action on Hepatitis C'

Professor John Strang, Director of the National Addiction Centre, Maudsley Hospital, London & member of the ACMD

Ms Monique Tomlinson, Mainliners, & member of 'Action on Hepatitis C'

Dr Martyn Wake, General Practitioner, South West London

Hot off the press !!!!!

"Making harm reduction work": Publications by the Department of Health & Drugscope (2001).



The health risks directly associated with drug injecting include overdose, blood borne viruses (such as hepatitis C, hepatitis B, hepatitis D, HIV-1 and HIV-2), bacterial infections (such as endocarditis)and fungal infections (such as candidaemia).


Many of these risks can be eliminated or minimised by taking appropriate professional and educational measures, provided they are skilfully organised and delivered.


The Department and Health and Drugscope (see the links page) have together developed a number of briefing booklets on the subject of harm reduction among drug injectors, including commissioning standards. The recommendations collected together have far reaching implications for hepatitis C, and are dealt with in more detail in the "What's new page 3" section.