Hepatitis C ‘action week’ taking place in Sheffield

A ‘hepatitis C action week’ will be taking place in Sheffield this week, aimed at raising awareness of hepatitis C, supporting services to work together and improving outcomes for people affected by the virus. Over 5,000 people are estimated to have hepatitis C in the South Yorkshire area, with around half of those undiagnosed.
The action week has been organised by HCV Action, the hepatitis C professional member organisation coordinated by The Hepatitis C Trust, and is centred around a ‘hepatitis C good practice’ roadshow event, co-hosted with Public Health England.
The roadshow event will take place on Wednesday 17th October at The Source Skills Academy in Sheffield and will bring together experts, patients and clinicians to share good practice and discuss the potential for increased collaboration in the delivery of hepatitis C care across the South Yorkshire area. The event will include talks on the potential for the elimination of hepatitis C, understanding the commissioning landscape in the region, and highlighting good practice. A series of afternoon workshops will focus on awareness and testing in drug services and hepatitis C in prisons.
As part of the wider action week, The Hepatitis C Trust will be holding awareness-raising events in services across Sheffield, including the Norfolk Park Probation Hostel, the Phoenix Futures Residential Rehab Service, the Victoria Court Housing Project and the Salvation Army Hostel. Further information on the awareness-raising events is available by emailing imran.shaukat@hepctrust.org.uk.
Rachel Halford, Chief Executive of The Hepatitis C Trust, said:
“To tackle hepatitis C, we must highlight and promote good practice, and ensure the implementation of the best possible strategies at a local level to find the undiagnosed and support patients into treatment. The roadshow will bring together patients and relevant professionals working with hepatitis C in the Sheffield and South Yorkshire area, and look forward towards the ultimate aim of eliminating hepatitis C as a major public health concern.”
Imran Shaukat, Peer Support Lead for The Hepatitis C Trust, said:
“This is an excellent opportunity to bring together many of the people and services I work with in the South Yorkshire area to share perspectives and experiences and to find ways of working together to tackle hepatitis C. The action week will be a great way of highlighting the excellent work going on in local services and communities in relation to hepatitis C, and I hope it will lead to even more collaboration between services in the future.”