HCV policies landscape in Europe, 2018 – EMCDDA commissioned study (contract CT.16.IBS.0156.1.0)

Summary

In the context of its contribution to monitoring HCV elimination among PWID in Europe, the EMCDDA conducted a study on current HCV policies, assessing if and how these refer to people who inject drugs (PWID). This document contains a compilation of information about the current HCV policies in all EU countries and Norway and short assessments on whether these policies address PWID’s access to HCV care. It provides background information for the online topic overview: 'Viral hepatitis policies in Europe'.

For the purpose of this project, “HCV policies” were defined as: national strategies, programmes and action plans addressing HCV treatment and care – either in general terms or specifically with regard to PWID – including those where viral hepatitis is an integrated part of a broader health strategy or plan.

Between February and October 2017, a targeted search for policy documents was undertaken in workbooks on the drug situation and responses submitted by National Focal Points to the EMCDDA, published and grey literature, and relevant national websites. Additional information was gathered through the EMCDDA expert network on drug-related infectious diseases. To illustrate access of PWID to HCV treatment and care, current clinical guidelines, practice and research reports were also considered.

An assessment of whether and how national policies or clinical guidelines address the access of people who inject drugs to HCV care and treatment was made and analytical summaries as well as lists of national policy-relevant documents were compiled. These were submitted to EMCDDA Focal Points in early 2018 for validation and, if necessary, update. The updated material was compiled by the EMCDDA and represents the status until March 2018. All countries except Turkey provided feedback.

The information provided in this study is used in the EMCDDA's Viral hepatitis policies in Europe topic overview (at time of writing, September 2018).