Driving Innovation and Expanding Access to Hepatitis Testing
To kick off World Hepatitis Testing Week the NOhep Medical Visionaries came together at The Liver Meeting in San Diego on Saturday 16 November to discuss different strategies for scaling up access to hepatitis testing.
The theme was ‘Driving innovation and expanding access to hepatitis testing’ and the forum brought medical professionals and advocates from across the globe to share different examples of best practice.
The discussions covered a wide range of approaches, innovative technologies and policy recommendations to improve access to testing and treatment.
There was an emphasis on the importance and effectiveness of supportive laws and policies to promote testing, such as universal testing laws in primary care. Offering testing during routine appointments is an effective way to scale up the rate of testing however it was noted that to have a widespread impact, financial incentives may need to be offered to primary care physicians. These incentives can encourage increased uptake and help with prioritising hepatitis testing.
Accessibility is a major barrier to hepatitis testing but advancements in diagnostics have the potential to address this, especially for those in resource limited settings. The use of innovations such as point of care testing, self-testing, mail order dried blood spot testing and protentional for new diagnostics, such as those developed during COVID-19 (which can be adapted for hepatitis testing), can aid in making testing more accessible to remote and hard to reach communities.
Peers have always been highly effective in increasing access to hepatitis testing and treatment. Peer to peer interventions build trust and bridge the gap between communities and healthcare providers. Participants were given insight into the peer programmes being implemented in UK prisons, where prisoners are testing other prisoners. Expanding programmes such as these can help to improve the rate of hepatitis testing.
Throughout the meeting, it was highlighted that the most effective way to increase hepatitis testing was to take services directly into communities and meet people where they are. Healthcare professionals and advocates at the forum shared how they delivered testing in mosques, pharmacies and harm reduction clinics, to name a few. This emphasises the need to think creatively on where and how to test and reach communities who otherwise may not access these services.
Another way to drive testing is by integrating hepatitis testing into other health areas, such as mental health care settings. Studies show that individuals with mental health conditions face barriers to healthcare services, leading to higher rates of undiagnosed conditions. We explored this topic further at the NOhep Medical Visionaries forum at INHSU 2024 and you can read about the discussion and how you can get involved here.
The forum highlighted that when it comes to testing there is no one size fits all and we all have a role to play in scaling up services which are more accessible to those that need them.
