Project 1 - About the Project

Project 1 constitutes one of five modules of the nationwide public health program “Prevention of HCV infections”, co-financed by the Switzerland and the Polish Ministry of Health in the framework of Swiss-Polish Cooperation Program with the enlarged European Union.

Project addresses serious persistent problem of high percentage (more than 90%) of undiagnosed infections with hepatitis C virus (hepatitis C, HCV) in Poland. Irrespective of the fact that infection with HCV is more prevalent in vulnerable groups, e.g. people who inject drugs, the prevalence of hepatitis C in the general population (0.95%) with the high rates of undiagnosed cases justifies the necessity of conducting studies aiming at developing more effective strategies of HCV infection detection in the general population.

The limited access to hepatitis C screening influences the detection rates of HCV infections in Poland. Generally, the patients have to cover the cost of testing from their own resources. Within the frames of the Project, 20,000 tests are offered for patients declared to selected primary health care units in urban and rural areas in 10 voivodeships (see: Partners).

The implementation of Project in primary health care units will promote the commitment of general practitioners to the prevention of blood-borne infections, preventive health programs and – along with the infectious disease specialists - further medical management of the patients infected with HCV.

The epidemiological data obtained through the Project will enable us to confirm the projected number of persons infected with hepatitis C virus in Poland, as well as to estimate the frequency of well-known risk factors of HCV infection and their relative effect on prevention of hepatitis C and HCV screening strategy.
Within the framework of the Project, the education and preventive health campaign will be conducted. In particular, the campaign will target persons using the healthcare services as well as the medical personnel (brochure, posters, trainings). The experience and data obtained during the Project will serve as a basis for developing procedures and regulating the indications for HCV testing in primary health care units.