Bid to eliminate blood infection started in city

Work on hepatitis C began in Dundee needle exchange helping area’s drug addicts

Tayside’s world-leading work to “eliminate” a deadly blood infection began in a Dundee needle exchange, it has emerged.

Dundee drugs workers from Hillcrest Futures are celebrating how their work with addicts inspired a push to drive hepatitis C out of Tayside, helping the region to become the first in the world to “effectively eliminate” the disease.

NHS Tayside’s pioneering approach, subsequently lauded by government ministers and charities, started with a needle exchange on Rattray Street, close to the city centre.

Cairn Centre staff worked with “chaotic” drug users to promote testing for the virus, allowing experts to quickly identify clusters of the disease and ensure users received the right treatment.

Danny Kelly, Hillcrest Futures’ harm reduction manager, said health experts initially thought drug users “didn’t care about their health and wouldn’t return for the results of their tests or engage effectively with treatment”.

He said the Cairn Centre team showed that was not the case.

“Our contribution was to utilise the effective relationships staff had already built with service users and encourage them to be tested and supported to access and engage with treatment.

“Since the tests commenced there’s been a consistent level of around 90% return rate for results which demonstrates that people do want to know their status and seek treatment.”

Once health experts realised the Cairn Centre approach was working, it was rolled out to other projects.

Consultant hepatologist Professor John Dillon said the programme “started with a single project in a Dundee needle exchange.”

“It then expanded to multiple research projects and redesign of services to achieve the milestone we have now reached,” he said.

Around 90% of the hepatitis C infections in Tayside occurred among those who inject drugs, according to the health board.

Hillcrest Futures staff’s work with addicts was central to the “elimination” of hepatitis C from Tayside.