As part of the INHSU 2021 conference, Jason Farrell, Consultant for Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network (C-EHRN) in the Netherlands, led a session on HCV testing in community by the community.
Jason spoke about the need for peer support across all aspects of the care cascade, and the new ‘HCV Testing Starter Kit’ being launched at the 5th European Harm Reduction Conference in November 2021.
Through the kit – and sessions like this one – Jason and his fellow speakers hope to raise awareness of the vital role that community testing can play in eradicating hepatitis C amongst people who use drugs.
In addition to raising awareness, the HCV Community Testing Starter Kit has also been developed as a capacity building tool/ manual to assist drug user organizations and harm reduction services implement HCV community testing. The starter kit and information it provides is based upon lessons learned by organisations who have been successful providing peer delivered testing services.
He was joined by Jonas Demant Hansen from The Users Academy in Denmark, Astrid Leicht from Fixpunkt in Germany, Rui Morais from CASO in Portugal, and Mrs Tessa Windelinckx from Free Clinic Antwerp in Belgium. Below are the main takeaways from the session.