title: Hepatitis services at an injecting drug user outreach clinic.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide a culturally appropriate, accessible and affordable hepatitis outreach clinic for injecting drug users, a traditionally hard-to-reach population.
  
  
  METHODS
  The community-based clinic, a collaborative project between the Wellington Drugs and Health Development Project and Capital Coast Health, was established in Wellington in 1997. Characteristics of the first 100 injecting drug users with hepatitis C assessed through the clinic are presented.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 51 patients found to be hepatitis C positive, five have received hepatitis C treatment, four at the outreach and one at a base hospital. 25 have been vaccinated for hepatitis B. The clinic has established trust and rapport with the injecting-drug-user community.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The hepatitis outreach clinic is an innovative project, crossing the primary/secondary interface of health services provision and providing personal health services within a public health initiative. The success of this model indicates potential value in offering outreach hepatitis clinics for injecting drug users in the major cities to close a gap in health service provision.
authors.affiliation: Drugs and Health Development Project, Wellington. H.Moriarty@paradise.net.nz
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moriarty
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kemp
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Robinson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications*