Source: Public Health Scotland
This Public Health Scotland report presents the results of the latest Needle Exchange Surveillance Initiative survey, undertaken in 2022-23, and provides comparisons with results from previous surveys, going back to 2008-09.
Among the key findings related to hepatitis C are that uptake of hepatitis C testing has remained at similar levels for the last three sweeps (with 55% of 2022-23 respondents tested for HCV within the previous 12 months).
In 2022-23, 92% of those who were aware of their HCV infection had received treatment, marking a substantial and continued increase in uptake since the introduction of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapies in 2015-16. More than three quarters (79%) of participants who would have been eligible for therapy (i.e. with evidence of either current or past chronic infection) reported having been treated for their HCV infection.
The prevalence of chronic HCV (i.e. active infection) had previously reduced from 37% in 2015-16 to 19% in 2019-20, contemporaneous with the scale-up of HCV treatment among PWID in community settings. While the prevalence of HCV has further declined to 15% in 2022-23, the rate of decline has slowed, which may be attributable to fewer people being treated for their HCV during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the reduction in chronic HCV prevalence, the prevalence of HCV antibodies among those with less than three years since onset of injecting (a proxy for new infections) is very high at 40% in 2022-23.
Of participants in 2022-23 who were found to have chronic HCV (based on their anonymous dried blood spot test), 26% reported that they were aware of their infection, which compares to 48% to 62% in previous surveys.