PROACTIVE

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  PROACTIVE: HePatitis C Reinfection: Optimising surveillAnCe for deTectIon and preVEntion

• IRAS ID

  339038

• Contact name

  Hannah E Family

• Contact email

  hannah.family@bristol.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Research Governance Team, Research & Enterprise Division, University of Bristol

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 1 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  Background to the research
  • Hepatitis C virus affects the liver.
  • Without treatment, long-term Hepatitis C infection can cause liver damage, cancer and early death.
  • Treatments can cure Hepatitis C infection quickly and effectively.
  • The World Health Organisation has set a target to combat Hepatitis C by 2030.
  • People who inject drugs are the main group of people in the UK who experience Hepatitis C infection, and re-infection.
  
  Our previous research has shown:
  • In 2017, Hepatitis C testing and treatment for people who inject drugs was scaled up quickly and this was highly effective at reducing Hepatitis C infections.
  • To keep infections low, we need to prevent future re-infections and quickly detect and treat reinfection.
  • Guidance recommends that people who have been treated for Hepatitis C are tested once a year to check for re-infection, but this follow-up rarely happens.

  Why we need this research
  • We need good follow-up test rates to be able to measure re-infections accurately.
  • We also need information on what support people who do and don't get re-infected have so that we can understand how to prevent more re-infections in the future.

  Aims of the research
  1. To find out what helps and what gets in the way of follow-up tests happening.
  2. What information is collected when people have their test that could help us understand the things that could reduce their risk of re-infection in the future.
  3. Co-produce guidance for future practice

  Research Plan
  1. Scoping review of evidence to date
  2. Qualitative interviews with people who inject drugs and staff who do the annual tests
  3. Two workshops with Hepatitis C experts, staff providing Hepatitis C testing and policy makers, and two workshops with people with lived experience of Hepatitis C to co-produce guidance for future practice

• REC name

  West of Scotland REC 3

• REC reference

  24/WS/0159

• Date of REC Opinion

  5 Dec 2024

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion