Social inclusion and hepatitis C: exploring new possibilities for prevention

Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2011 Apr;9(4):397-404. doi: 10.1586/eri.11.26.

Abstract

In Western countries, people who inject drugs experience a disproportionate burden of hepatitis C as a result of effective transmission of the virus via the sharing of used injection equipment. With a hepatitis C prevalence of 60% and higher in many areas, previous and current prevention efforts focusing on the availability of sterile injecting equipment along with education, have had only limited effect on incidence rate. Little attention has been paid to the broader social and political positions that drug use and people who use drugs hold in these societies. Insights from social research provide opportunities to broaden the possibilities for prevention efforts. We will review the social inclusion literature to provide some examples of how hepatitis C prevention may be approached in innovative ways.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Health Promotion / methods*
  • Hepatitis C / epidemiology
  • Hepatitis C / prevention & control*
  • Hepatitis C / transmission
  • Hepatitis C / virology
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations*
  • Needle-Exchange Programs
  • Patient Education as Topic
  • Risk Factors
  • Social Isolation / psychology
  • Social Medicine / methods*
  • Substance Abuse, Intravenous / complications*
  • Substance Abuse, Intravenous / psychology