Scottish Drugs Forum
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4 March 2009
A NEW project aimed at reducing Hepatitis C (HCV) among young drug users is being set up by Scottish Drugs Forum.
The project – funded for two years through Hepitatis C Action Plan monies – will be targeted through training staff in social care charities working with vulnerable young people in a range of topics associated with tackling the spread of the virus.
Recruitment is underway for a new HCV Development Officer post within SDF, whose job it will be to:
Social care staff will be given awareness training on local Hepatitis C Action Plan activities and important risk factors/motivations linked to the progression of young people towards drug injecting – such as young drug users’ peer networks and any commonly shared beliefs, attitudes and values.
Using the internet and peer networks to spread important HCV prevention messages are also options which could be explored.
One of the priorities of the Action Plan is to reduce the transmission of the virus by preventing injecting drug use, particularly among young people thinking about or who have recently started injecting.
Over 85 percent of people currently diagnosed with the virus in Scotland have acquired it through injecting drugs, according to the Action Plan, and evidence has shown that nearly a quarter of those who have been injecting for less than two years have already contracted the virus.