From 1 July, a GP will be able to order an HCV antibody (anti-HCV) test for a patient at the expense of the National Health Service. Making this simple blood test widely available is a real breakthrough.
Until now, in Poland, a free anti-HCV test could only be ordered by an infectious disease doctor. As a result, the vast majority of people living with hepatitis C were unaware of their status and were not receiving treatment. Yet HCV is responsible for 60% cases of life-threatening hepatocellular carcinoma in our latitude.
Experts estimate that just over 100,000 people are living with HCV in Poland. The Ministry of Health's drug programme provides all diagnosed patients infected with the virus with free access to state-of-the-art therapies, which allow the rapid cure of almost 100% patients. The only problem has been finding those infected, as HCV does not produce any symptoms for years. By including HCV tests in the baskets of PCPs, Poland's chances of achieving the World Health Organisation's strategy to eliminate HCV by 2030 have increased.
The Polish HCV Expert Group and patient organisations gathered in the Hepatology Coalition, led by Barbara Pepke, President of the Star of Hope Foundation, have been pushing for this simple, inexpensive test to be made available at the primary care physician level for many years.
"We have repeatedly encountered stories of people who were diagnosed with HCV infection at a very late stage of the disease. Sometimes it was too late for any help. I believe that there will now be far fewer such situations. It is difficult for me to express the relief that all those who have been calling for this change for several years have felt thanks to making anti-HCV tests available to PCPs," said Barbara Pepke.
"Creating the possibility of performing an anti-HCV test in the PCP gives us a tool to effectively combat infection with this virus and thus prevent cancer and cirrhosis. How it is used will depend on the PCPs, and more specifically on how much they realise how much they can do by massively using this simple and inexpensive test," said Professor Robert Flisiak, president of the Polish Society of Epidemiologists and Doctors of Infectious Diseases.
"The role of infectious disease physicians is now to reach out to their PCP colleagues with the message of the high efficacy of available treatment for HCV-infected patients, provided they are diagnosed. In the current situation in Poland, practically every patient presenting to the POZ should have an anti-HCV test ordered. There is no point in looking for groups at increased risk, because we are all in it," - added Professor Jerzy Jaroszewicz, president of the Polish Hepatology Society.
Source: medexpress.co.uk