Overview

The guidance is the first step in the provision of comprehensive guidance on viral hepatitis surveillance, prevention and treatment by the World Health Organization. The following recommendations are based on systematic reviews of scientific evidence, community values and preferences and implementation issues. Recommendation 1: It is suggested to offer people who inject drugs the rapid hepatitis B vaccination regimen. Recommendation 2: It is suggested to offer people who inject drugs incentives to increase uptake and completion of the hepatitis B vaccine schedule. Recommendation 3: It is suggested that needle and syringe programs also provide low dead-space syringes for distribution to people who inject drugs. Recommendation 4: Psychosocial interventions are not suggested for people who inject drugs to reduce the incidence of viral hepatitis. Recommendation 5: It is suggested to offer peer interventions to people who inject drugs to reduce the incidence of viral hepatitis.

Contents

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• FUNDING AND DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
• ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• 1. INTRODUCTION
• 2. SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES
• 3. BACKGROUND
  • 3.1 Viral hepatitis and injecting drug use
• 4. METHODOLOGY
  • 4.1 WHO guideline development process
  • 4.2 Viral hepatitis guideline development process
• 5. GUIDING PRINCIPLES
  • 5.1 Human rights
  • 5.2 Access to health care
  • 5.3 Access to justice
  • 5.4 Acceptability of services
  • 5.5 Health literacy
  • 5.6 Integrated service provision
• 6. RECOMMENDATIONS
  • 6.1 Hepatitis B vaccination
  • 6.2 Type of syringes
  • 6.3 Psychosocial and peer interventions
• 7. EXISTING RECOMMENDATIONS
• 8. ADAPTING THESE GUIDELINES
• 9. OPERATIONAL AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES
  • 9.1 Health systems
  • 9.2 Prevention services
  • 9.3 Community involvement
• 10. NEXT STEPS
• REFERENCES
• ANNEXES
  • Annex 1 PICO questions
  • Annex 2 Outcome frameworks
  • Annex 3 GRADE notation and language
  • Annex 4 GRADE evidence profiles
  • Annex 5 Risk benefit/decision tables
  • Annex 6 Evidence summaries
  • Annex 7 Search strategies
  • Annex 8 Report of Values and Preferences Survey
  • Annex 9 Summary of declarations of interest

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