Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to maximise the coverage of testing for (a) hepatitis C and (b) other blood-borne viruses in a range of healthcare settings.

Public Health England (PHE) has undertaken various activities to increase the number of people tested for blood-borne viruses (BBV) including contributing to and developing a range of guidance:

- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance to promote and offer testing for hepatitis B and C [1]

- Best practice guidance on hepatitis B antenatal screening and the newborn immunisation programme [2]

- NICE guidance on increasing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing among Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) [3] and Black African [4] communities in a variety of community and medical settings.

- An offer of antenatal HIV screening is recommended for all pregnant women [5].

- Piloting models of service delivery and exploiting novel testing methods, including point of care testing and alternatives to venepuncture to test for HIV, hepatitis B and C in community settings.

- Working collaboratively with the National Health Service and non-governmental organisations to advocate for increased uptake of screening for BBV and monitoring testing uptake of BBV in the United Kingdom [6],[7].

Notes:

[1] Hepatitis B and C: ways to promote and offer testing to people at increased risk of infection; Issued: December 2012 last modified: March 2013 NICE public health guidance 43 http://publications.nice.org.uk/hepatitis-b-and-c-ways-to-promote-and-offer-testing-to-people-at-increased-risk-of-infection-ph43/considerations

[2] Department of Health. Hepatitis B antenatal screening and newborn immunisation programme: Best practice guidance 2011 www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/215622/dh_132637.pdf

[3] Increasing the uptake of HIV testing among Men who have Sex with Men. NICE public health guidance 34 http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph34/resources/guidance-increasing-the-uptake-of-hiv-testing-among-men-who-have-sex-with-men-pdf

[4] Increasing the uptake of HIV testing among black Africans in England NICE public health guidance 33 http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph33/resources/guidance-increasing-the-uptake-of-hiv-testing-among-black-africans-in-england-pdf

[5] Yin Z et al. HIV in the United Kingdom 2014 Report: data to end 2013. November 2014. Public Health England, London. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/377194/2014_PHE_HIV_annual_report_19_11_2014.pdf

[6] Public Health England. Hepatitis C in the UK: 2014 Report. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/337115/HCV_in_the_UK_2014_24_July.pdf

[7] Public Health England. HIV in the UK: 2014 Report https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/377194/2014_PHE_HIV_annual_report_19_11_2014.pdf