Blog

By Judy Chang, IAS Member and Executive Director of the International Network of People Who Use Drugs “In a marketplace of experiences, the privileged inevitably have more platforms from which to narrate, and the marginalised are often spoken for within agendas which are not their own.” Alison Phipps 2016, p. 5-6, Sussex University I am a feminist. I am a woman who uses drugs. Up until recently, these identities have been mutually exclusive, having rarely been held together in the same co...

By Andrew Guise, Social Science Lecturer at King’s College London, and Charles Witzel, Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine New research has explored the acceptability of remote testing for hepatitis C among people who use drugs. Just as for HIV testing, remote testing for hepatitis C must go hand in hand with access to treatment. Hepatitis C virus (HCV), like HIV, disproportionately affects key populations, such as people who use drugs or men who have sex w...

Last week at the 69th World Health Assembly (WHA), the Global Health Sector Strategies for HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), 2016-2021 were formally adopted on 28 May.  This is an important milestone as the three strategies are fully aligned with supporting the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include targets to end the HIV epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 and to combat viral hepatitis and other communicable diseases, includi...

The first-ever global targets on viral hepatitis were adopted at the 69th World Health Assembly last week. These targets include:

• Reduce new cases of chronic hepatitis by 30% (2020) and 90% (2030) (baseline 2015). Reduce from 6-10 million new cases in 2015 to < 1 million in 2030
• Reduce hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) mortality by 10% (2020) and 90% (2030) (baseline 2015). Reduce from 1.4 million deaths in 2015 to < 500,000 deaths in 2030