Huelva hopes to eradicate hepatitis C within this decade. Estimates from the Department of Digestive Services of Juan Ramon Jimenez University Hospital indicate that, Around 700 people are affected by this infection In order to eliminate this phenomenon from the province, the hospital center is promoting a project with multiple strategic lines aimed at screening the entire population, including the most vulnerable groups, for which screening is currently being carried out. Check work.doctor Anna BejaranoAs the head of this service and the driving force behind this initiative, he is full of commitment and enthusiasm and is very confident that by 2030 hepatitis C will no longer be present in Huelva.
– Juan Ramón Jiménez Hospital’s innovative project for comprehensive treatment of hepatitis C is two years old. What were you working on during this time?
– We have addressed several aspects, see the training of responsible health personnel or the last one we have undertaken, which is the provision of diagnosis and treatment for the most vulnerable groups, such as immigrants, homeless people or drug users. . To this end, the Digestive Services Department works closely with the Hospital Center’s Microbiology and Pharmacy Services and the Red Cross, traveling to settlements, soup kitchens and poor communities to diagnose and treat infections.
– Many of these people are unaware of this infection. How did you handle it?
– This project is beautiful and inspiring, allowing us to understand firsthand the harsh reality of these people, many of whom know nothing about hepatitis, risky practices or the possibility of becoming infected. Likewise, there are people who are reluctant to accept current treatments – which are very simple and 100% effective – because until recently they were very aggressive and, if not known, can still engender distrust. That’s why the first thing is to provide training, thanks to the collaboration of the Red Cross, which is the bridge that facilitates everything we do in these spaces. Thanks to them, we were able to diagnose 520 cases in the settlements and provide various treatments there.
– But the plan aims to cover the entire province of Huelva.
– This is our goal, so we are also rolling out automated diagnostics in units with higher prevalence in the hospital, i.e. those where there are more patients who may have the disease but don’t know it, such as psychiatry, rheumatology or endocrinology division. In addition, in October we launched a provincial project, led by Juan Ramón Jiménez and involving the Riotinto and Infanta Elena hospitals, through which we will decentralize the treatment of hepatitis C Diagnosis and treatment, bringing it closer to primary care.
-In Primary, where most of the population will be dealt with.
– We know that many patients do not go to hospital but to health centers where they have a good relationship with their family doctor. The goal is to move diagnostics from hospitals to where they are most readily available, so we will request a hepatitis C diagnosis from all patients aged 40 to 70 who have their blood drawn. We will pilot the project for six months and plan to reach 30,000 patients. If the infection is positive, it will be assessed by the same junior doctor before being assessed by a gastroenterologist who will pass the information on to us via remote consultation. Treatment will be dispensed via telepharmacy and compliance monitoring will be carried out by referral nurses and hospital pharmacists at the health centre.
– How did all these initiatives that you led come to fruition and set an example for other centres?
– Hepatitis C is very prevalent today as it is a global public health problem, with an estimated 1% of the population living with the disease. To this end, the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified the elimination of infections by 2030 as a priority and has developed a strategy to this end and, as a result, other courses of action. We are lucky in Huelva to have good relations with microbiology and pharmacy, so it is easy to promote such actions. We estimate that there may be about 700 people with hepatitis C in Huelva, and we work on this because the liver is an organ that a person cannot live with.
– Is there any specific situation of this infected person?
– By age, people between 40 and 70 years old, but vulnerable groups are also more likely, people who are not analyzed, people who have risky behaviors, such as intravenous or inhaled drug users, long time ago, blood transfusions can cause Give when hepatitis C is unknown or to people who have risky sexual behaviors. Likewise, it can be transmitted from mother to child via the mother-to-child route.
– Do you think there is little or no reporting on this infection?
– It’s not talked about and we find patients who don’t know about it and also those who don’t engage with the health system out of fear. In fact, the risk factors are not known, and it is important to note that screening is necessary because they are asymptomatic infections that do not manifest themselves until the disease is very severe, at which point liver damage can result. Therefore, these screenings are important for early treatment. Unfortunately, many times when chronic liver disease is in the cirrhosis stage, the disease is treatable but not curable.
– However, early diagnosis can allow you to be cured in a very short time.
– This seems to be a lie to us doctors because we have received torture treatment and the cure rate is only 50%. Now they are tablets to be taken for 2-3 months and if the whole process is completed, the percentage is 100%. Indeed, this treatment is not suitable for hepatitis B because it does not cure hepatitis B but rather slows its progression.