title: Guidelines for the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection in injection drug users: status quo in the European Union countries.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. reimer@uke.uni-hamburg.de
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reimer
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schulte
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Castells
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schafer
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Polywka
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hedrich
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wiessing
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Haasen
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Backmund
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krausz
mesh_terms: 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*