High rate of Hepatitis C among injecting drug users

Up to 90 per cent of newly notified cases of Hepatitis C infection in European Union countries are among injecting drug users, the European Union drugs agency (EMCDDA) said yesterday.

The agency said that since the introduction of the screening of blood and blood products for Hepatitis C more than a decade ago drug injection has become the most common route of infection, largely due to the sharing of needles and other injecting equipment.

"Hepatitis C affects an estimated 170 million people worldwide," EMCDDA director Georges Estievenart said. Hepatitis C may affect more than one per cent of the population in the EU but prevalence is dramatically higher among those who have injected drugs.

Research carried out by the Lisbon-based agency yesterday showed that lifetime healthcare costs for every person infected with Hepatitis C ranges from just over €13,000 to more than €26,000 in France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. The agency said when projected to the 25 EU member states the total future healthcare costs for Hepatitis C patients could rise substantially.

The estimates were published in a major scientific monograph, Hepatitis C And Injecting Drug Use: Impact, Costs and Policy Options, which presents state-of-the-art knowledge and new analyses on the impact and costs of the disease among injecting drug users.

The monograph also addresses the indirect costs of the disease, such as lost economic productivity and intangible costs to the individual which can have a severe impact on lives, but are difficult to quantify. It states that an exclusive focus on direct healthcare costs, excluding costs to society or the individual, is likely to underestimate the cost-effectiveness ration of an intervention.

Although infected people often remain symptom-free for many years, chronic infection may cause a variety of complaints like fatigue and chest and abdominal pain.