Finding and linking patients to healthcare is an issue for healthcare in several infectious diseases. An example of this is hepatitis C, a stigmatized disease-causing thresholds for individuals in the risk group to seek health care and test for hepatitis C.

Eliminating Hepatitis C – from pre-screening and sampling to treatment

In an innovation project with the Karolinska University Hospital financially supported by Vinnova/MedTech4Health and MSD we interview all stakeholders to fully understand the problems causing the thresholds and how a digital screening service could solve them.

Together with patients, individuals in the risk group, hepatitis C nurses, doctors in infectious diseases and Medical Officers, we co-created the service “Ingen ska ha hepatit C” (No one should have hepatitis C) to help lower the thresholds and reach and link more people in the risk group to healthcare for sampling and treatment.

Hepatitis C is a serious infectious diseases that mainly affects the liver. If left untreated it can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. There are about 35 000 individuals in Sweden living with undiagnosed hepatitis. The WHO has adopted a strategy to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030. Since a few years there are effective treatments to achieve that. New drugs on the market are easy to take, has almost no side-effects and cures more than 95% of the treated patients.

“For me it has been so good, I save both time and money and do not feel stressed by commuter trains and to go away for visits. Nice and easy with a doctor’s visit in your mobile!”

Iris, patient

Since September 2019 the service is up and running in the Stockholm Region and the plan is to roll-out in other regions and abroad.

With the screening service “Ingen ska ha hepatit C” we aim at contributing to the goal of eliminating hepatitis C by 2030. Let us know if you would like to participate!

“Ingen ska ha hepatit C” is an innovation project that Health Solutions has managed but many organisations and companies has been involved. The service is an outcome of a collaboration including Karolinska University Hospital, Norrlands University Hospital, patient organizations and advocacy groups (Brukarföreningen, RFSL and Hepatit C Föreningen), MSD, MediCheck, InfoSolutions and Ocean, with financial support from Vinnova/MedTech4Health.

More information:

Cecilia Sällström
Project Manager
cecilia.sallstrom(at)bcbmedical.com