Since our foundation in 2004, we have always given special attention to the impact of blood-borne infectious diseases on the well-being of people who use drugs.

Hepatitis C is one of those diseases. According to researches, its viral stage is a lot higher than HIV and Tuberculosis combined. It is therefore of crucial importance that harm reduction and community organisations offer the necessary cascade of care in their facilities, which are as holistic as possible, easily accessible, and non-discriminatory.

 

It is always highly motivational, inspiring, and influential to see how our co-professionals deal with our shared challenges and move their practices further.

With this in mind, in 2018, we set our goal in collecting good practice examples working in the field of HCV interventions and made an open call to the harm reduction organisations in Europe. We received more than 80 reactions, covering more than 170.000 clients, visitors, and eventually, patients.

 

Shortly after, a review group was working on the final selection with the following criteria; the coverage of awareness, testing, treatment, and advocacy, and the challenges experienced. Finally, each story offered recommendations as well to encourage others.

 

We are now delighted to share the full report with data, findings, and conclusions as well as the good practice collection of 14 elected programs. They provide a thorough overview of the collaboration of harm reduction and community organisations, working under different legal and socio-economic conditions.

 

We feel, however, almost obliged to mention that the publications aim to present neither any ‘golden standard’ nor an exclusive list but to represent encouraging and inspiring models of work in different settings.