UCLH Find & Treat team explain why screening is vital on World Hepatitis Day

Find & Treat screen tens of thousands high risk people every year using a mobile unit based out of UCLH. This World Hepatitis Day, 28 July, the Find and Treat team explain why screening is so important.

As well as Hepatitis the team screen for TB and a wide range of infectious diseases amongst the most vulnerable people.  Many hepatitis C infections are undiagnosed due to a lack of clear symptoms, testing is essential to find those in need of treatment. If left untreated over many years the virus can cause serious and fatal liver damage. By finding, testing and treating serious illness is prevented and future infections are stopped with the ultimate aim to eliminate hepatitis C as a public health concern.

Professor Alistair Story, founder and clinical lead of the UCLH Find & Treat Service which works around England said:

“We have the tools and the talent to eliminate Hepatitis C, but the hard miles are ahead. Thousands of people are still unaware of their infection and are struggling to access testing and treatment. UCLH Find and Treat outreach team works with the Hep C Trust to put people with lived experience of Hepatitis C at the front of the service providing Peer-led testing and treatment to those most at risk. The Peers reach patients who are off the map of mainstream services and build trust, awareness, and understanding. They provide integrated community testing, treatment, and support to address multiple other treatable infections including TB, Hep B, and HIV. All these infections are barometers of health inequity in our society. Finding and treating cases is in all our interests and saves lives and valuable health resources. We can and must confine these infections to the history books.”

The multidisciplinary Find & Treat team includes former patients who work as peer advocates, nurse specialists, social and outreach workers, radiographers and expert technicians and support patients to take a full course of treatment and get cured.

Read more about Find and Treat:

• New health clinic built into an eco-tricycle to treat homeless patients
• The Guardian joined a screening trip: www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jul/26/without-find-and-treat-i-wouldnt-be-here-the-nhs-service-caring-for-londons-vulnerable
• World Hepatitis Day marks arrival of a new van to find & treat homeless patients
• Green energy & new tech to improve health for homeless patients
• UCLH works with MSF to provide COVID-19 care to homeless people in London