Guidelines for the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection in injection drug users: status quo in the European Union countries.
Treatment guidelines are considered to be an important tool in steering patients to medical treatment. This study was conducted to analyze guidelines for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in injection drug users (IDUs) in the European Union (EU) countries as a component of treatment access. National and international databases, expert contacts, professional societies, and health administrations were approached to acquire guidelines. According to their quality standard, guidelines were divided into expert opinions, semiofficial guidelines, official guidelines, and consensus processes. Recommendations for the treatment of HCV infection in IDUs vary substantially, from lack of recommendations and outright treatment disapproval to recommendations for treatment under specified circumstances. Recent guidelines that apply qualified process procedures that include literature research tend to be more permissive. Qualified guideline processes in each EU country and subsequently renewed pan-European guidelines are needed.
Reimer
Jens
J
Centre for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. reimer@uke.uni-hamburg.de
Schulte
Bernd
B
Castells
Xavier
X
Schafer
Ingo
I
Polywka
Susanne
S
Hedrich
Dagmar
D
Wiessing
Lucas
L
Haasen
Christian
C
Backmund
Markus
M
Krausz
Michael
M
D032921:Consensus; D005062:European Union; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*