Winner
Eliminating hepatitis C within a generation: what are you going to do about it?
with support from Dovetail
Summary of work
Hepatitis C treatment rates remain stubbornly low, especially in London, where care pathways are often poorly coordinated and services patchy and hard to access.
New treatment regimens have the potential to improve this situation and experts argue that we are on the brink of a ‘smallpox opportunity’, with the potential to all but eliminate the virus.
Models suggest that better drugs alone are only half the solution: if they were introduced in association with a significant increase in the number of people treated, they could have a dramatic impact on long-term morbidity, mortality and health costs.
LJWG collaborated with a broad group of stakeholders and together they used a high-profile symposium to call on NHS England, Public Health England (PHE) and the Department of Health to implement a co-ordinated approach to improve access to treatment and eliminate hepatitis C within a generation.
The meeting showcased new health outcomes and best practice models from around the world, building the case for elimination and showing how it can be done.
Later that year PHE announced a partnership to address the problem and confirmed that the LJWG’s collaborative symposium had played a major role in raising awareness and moving the debate forward.
Judges’ comments
This is a strong, aspirational vision to eliminate hepatitis C, backed by clear partnership objectives with the NHS, Department of Health and Public Health England. A bold goal with a broad coalition that had a big impact on a great number of patients.
