Policy and parliamentary

The Hepatitis C Trust’s policy and parliamentary team are a leading force in campaigning to improve the lives of people with hepatitis C. Focused on improving awareness of hepatitis C among policymakers, MPs and Peers in Westminster – as well as parliamentarians within the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales – our aim is to improve testing, diagnosis and access to treatment and support for patients. Our ultimate goal is for hepatitis C to be eliminated as a serious public health concern in the UK.

We meet regularly with key policy stakeholders across NHS England, Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care, collaborating to advocate for patient-centred, evidence-based, workable proposals and solutions for improving hepatitis C services across the UK.

Our parliamentary champions from across the political spectrum are crucial partners in helping us to raise awareness of hepatitis C and lobby for a more robust response from Government and health bodies. The Hepatitis C Trust acts as the secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Liver Health, which holds inquiries, produces reports and holds regular meetings aimed at pushing hepatitis C and the other major causes of liver disease onto the policy agenda. Read more about our work with members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Liver Health here. In Scotland and Wales, we coordinate groups of Hepatitis C Parliamentary Champions, made up of cross-party MSPs and MSs committed to providing a voice in the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Parliament for people with hepatitis C.

Some of our campaigning successes have included:

• July 2019 Scottish Government commitment to eliminate hepatitis C by 2024. 
• January 2018 announcement by NHS England of an ambition to achieve hepatitis C elimination by 2025 and subsequent development of the hepatitis C elimination deal. 
• Chief Medical Officer for Wales releasing a health circular on eliminating hepatitis C in October 2017, providing guidance to key stakeholders.

• Scottish Government commitment to the elimination of hepatitis C as a serious public health concern, and to introducing opt-out BBV tests in all Scottish prisons, within its 2015 – 2020 Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Framework.
• Securing the agreement by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), NHS England and Public Health England to the universal introduction of opt-out testing for BBVs (blood-borne viruses) in English prisons.