Hepatitis C care 'patchy in UK'

The virus is carried in the blood

England and Wales have been urged to follow the lead of Scotland to help tackle a hepatitis C "time-bomb".

It is estimated there may be more than 400,000 people in the UK with the virus, but only about 70,000 have been diagnosed.

The Scottish Government has recently launched an action plan to help quadruple the numbers getting help.

But the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Hepatology Group said there was a lack of action elsewhere.

The hepatitis C virus, if untreated, can cause cirrhosis, liver failure or liver cancer.

Our report shows there's so much more that needs to done to tackle hepatitis C Bob Laxton, of the All-Party Parliamentary Hepatology Group

Most people who contract the infection can be successfully treated, but this becomes harder the later the diagnosis.

The virus is spread through contact with infected blood.

Most people contract it through sharing needles to inject drugs, although some have also caught it via blood transfusions before blood was screened for the virus.

An action plan was published in England in 2004, but the MPs said it had had little impact.

The report said many GPs still not fully aware of what to look out for, and two-thirds of local NHS trusts had not put proper infrastructures in place to make sure those diagnosed got access to treatment.

It said just £7m has been made available to tackle the condition and called for ministers to publish another strategy to establish new targets and timescales.

The MPs also criticised Wales, which has not yet published its strategy.

They said the lack of support in place meant hepatitis C was a "public health time-bomb".

Praise

Northern Ireland, which has an action plan, largely escaped criticism, but it was the Scottish Government that was praised for its record.

Scotland has a two-stage action plan in place which is promising £43m of funding to help prevent, care and treat hepatitis C.

Over the next three years, officials want to see the numbers in treatment rising four-fold to over 2,000.

Bob Laxton, co-chair of the group, said: "Our report shows there's so much more that needs to done to tackle hepatitis C.

"Scotland is leading the way and we must quickly follow otherwise we will continue to see more and more unnecessary deaths."

Charles Gore, chief executive of the Hepatitis C Trust, said: "This report unfortunately confirms our fears and we now have very real health inequalities across the UK."

The Department of Health in England said it would be launching a public awareness campaign later this year.

A spokesman said: "We are committed to tackling hepatitis C.

"In the past four years, there has been a sustained increase in hepatitis C testing, diagnosis and treatment."

A spokesman for the Welsh Assembly Government said the administration was also fully committed and would be publishing its plan for consultation shortly.