Hep C figures drop

Feb 25 2011 by Julie Watt, Dumfries Standard Friday

A NEEDLE exchange programme for drug users has been credited for a sharp drop in hepatitis C cases in the region.

The number of people with the blood-borne virus which affects the liver fell to 32 last year from 91 in 2009.

The dramatic reduction has saved the region’s NHS an estimated £200,000 in drug and treatment costs.

And it has been largely credited to the Turning Point exchange programme which provides heroin addicts with clean needles.

Consultant in Public Health Medicine Dr David Breen told the Standard: “This drop is quite significant and I hope it continues to drop in the coming years.

“The needle exchange service which has stations across the region is very successful. Anyone injecting drugs can take their used needles and exchange them for new ones.

“We encourage people who are injecting drugs to do this as hepatitis can be caused by people sharing needles.”

It costs around £6,000 to treat one person who is diagnosed with hepatitis C as the two drugs required are very expensive.

Dr Breen added: “It costs thousands more to conduct tests and run clinics so this is very good news for the health board.”

He believes that education programmes in schools and universities and an overall awareness of blood-borne viruses have also contributed to the dramatic drop in cases. However, the number of people being diagnosed with HIV in Dumfries and Galloway has almost doubled in the last 10 years.

Seven people were diagnosed with the HIV virus last year, compared with four in 2001.

It brings the total number of people being treated for the virus, which may lead to the killer disease AIDS, in the region to 98.

The figures, which were released by Health Protection Scotland, show that sexual intercourse between gay men accounted for 37 of those infections.

A further 33 HIV cases were caused by heterosexual intercourse and 23 people infected caught the virus as a result of injecting drugs, with the remaining five cases being undetermined.

In Scotland, there were 360 new cases diagnosed between January and December 2010, bringing the total number of people in the country with HIV to 6,613.