Fed: Many drug agencies failing to test users for hepatitis
Fed: Many drug agencies failing to test users for hepatitis
Australian Associated Press - Jun. 04, 2006
SYDNEY, June 4 AAP - A significant number of injecting drug users are not being
tested for hepatitis and other blood-borne diseases despite national public
health policies, a survey has found.
Transmission of blood-borne viruses among drug users is still a considerable
problem in Australia, with hepatitis B and C still spreading rapidly.
A survey of 222 drug and alcohol services has found that while about 75 per cent
offer some testing and vaccinations for these conditions and HIV, fewer then
half do so routinely.
The study, published today in the Medical Journal of Australia, also found only
one third offer these services routinely onsite.
The authors said the results were at odds with testing policies repeatedly
issued by national health organisations.
They were particularly disappointing given the National Health and Medical
Council's call more than 20 years ago for across the board vaccinations for
hepatitis B.
"That a sizeable proportion of drug and alcohol agencies do not provide
cost-effective, evidence-based (blood-borne disease) interventions to this
marginalised and high-risk group is inconsistent with Australian policy," they
wrote.
It was also out of step with the "expectation of reasonable public health care
and harm reduction".
The researchers, from Sydney South West Area Health Service and Auckland
University, said the lack of services left many users without an understanding
of their conditions.
The delays in detection meant delays in specialist referrals and the lifestyle
changes needed to slow the disease's progression.
The authors called for more funding for onsite testing and vaccinations "so
testing becomes part of the core business for more drug treatment agencies".
They also suggested adopting more rapid vaccination schedules and better
co-ordination between health services.
Previous surveys indicate that between 50 and 60 per cent of users have
hepatitis C and between 23 and 52 per cent have hepatitis C.
Only between one and three per cent have HIV - a figure which has remained
consistently low since sterile needle programs were introduced in the 1980s.
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