Barriers and advocacy needs for hepatitis C services in prisons: Informing the prisons hepatitis C advocacy toolkit

June 2024
Citation: 
Walker, S., Shrestha, L.B., Lloyd, A., Dawson, O., Sheehan, Y., Sheehan, J., Maduka, N.B., Cabezas, J., Akiyama, M. and Kronfli, N. (2024). Barriers and advocacy needs for hepatitis C services in prisons: Informing the prisons hepatitis C advocacy toolkit

Carceral settings are a key focus of the 2030 WHO global hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination goals. Despite this, access to HCV testing and treatment services in prisons remains low globally, limiting opportunities to achieve these goals. This study aimed to inform development of the Prisons HCV Advocacy Toolkit, developed by a special interest group of the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users to address this need.

It found key barriers for enhanced prison-based HCV services included lack of political will and action, lack of prison-based healthcare resources, and poor awareness about HCV and the importance of prison-based HCV services.

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