Peer support for people living with hepatitis B virus-A foundation for treatment expansion

Louise O Downs^{1

2

3}, Kenneth Kabagambe⁴, Sarah Williams⁵, Elizabeth Waddilove⁶, Marion Delphin⁶, Sheila F Lumley^{2

3}, Richard Ndungutse⁷, Beatrice Kimono⁷, Robert Newton^{7

8}, Joy Ko⁹, Emily Martyn^{10

11}, Jessica Carter¹², Agnieszka Kemper⁹, Fernando Monteiro⁹, Sive O'Regan¹³, Julian Surey^{13

14}, Binta Sultan^{11

14}, Alistair Story¹³, Douglas MacDonald¹⁵, Thomas Tu^{16

17

18

19}, Janet Seeley^{10

20}, Geoffrey Dusheiko²¹, Tongai Maponga²², Monique I Andersson^{3

23}, C Wendy Spearman²⁴, Joseph D Tucker¹⁰, Chari Cohen²⁵, Su Wang^{25

26}, Danjuma Adda^{27

28}, Catherine Freeland²⁵, Rachel Halford^{27

29}, Kathryn Jack³⁰, Indrajit Ghosh^{9

13}, Ahmed M Elsharkawy³¹, Philippa C Matthews^{6

9

11}, Stuart Flanagan^{9

11}

Affiliations

¹ KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya.
² Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
³ Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK.
⁴ The National Organization for People Living with Hepatitis B (NOPLHB), Kampala, Uganda.
⁵ British Liver Trust, Winchester, UK.
⁶ The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.
⁷ Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda.
⁸ Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK.
⁹ Mortimer Market Centre, Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
¹⁰ London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
¹¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, University College London Hospitals, London, UK.
¹² The Institute for Infection and Immunity, St George's University of London, London, UK.
¹³ Find and Treat, University College London Hospitals, London, UK.
¹⁴ Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.
¹⁵ Department of Hepatology, Royal Free Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
¹⁶ Storr Liver Centre, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney at Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁷ Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute, The University of Sydney at Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁸ HepBCommunity.org, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁹ Hepatitis B Voices Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
²⁰ Africa Health Research Institute, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
²¹ Department of Hepatology, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
²² Division of Medical Virology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University and National Health Laboratory Service, Cape Town, South Africa.
²³ Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
²⁴ Division of Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
²⁵ Hepatitis B Foundation, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA.
²⁶ Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, Florham Park, New Jersey, USA.
²⁷ World Hepatitis Alliance, London, UK.
²⁸ CFID/CCT Taraba, Tarabba, Nigeria.
²⁹ The Hepatitis C Trust, London, UK.
³⁰ Hepatology Department, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK.
³¹ Liver Unit and National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at the University Hospitals Birmingham, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.

PMID: 38798022
DOI: 10.1111/jvh.13952

Review

Peer support for people living with hepatitis B virus-A foundation for treatment expansion

Louise O Downs et al. J Viral Hepat. 2024 Aug.

. 2024 Aug;31(8):490-499.

doi: 10.1111/jvh.13952. Epub 2024 May 26.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya.
² Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
³ Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK.
⁴ The National Organization for People Living with Hepatitis B (NOPLHB), Kampala, Uganda.
⁵ British Liver Trust, Winchester, UK.
⁶ The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.
⁷ Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda.
⁸ Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK.
⁹ Mortimer Market Centre, Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
¹⁰ London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
¹¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, University College London Hospitals, London, UK.
¹² The Institute for Infection and Immunity, St George's University of London, London, UK.
¹³ Find and Treat, University College London Hospitals, London, UK.
¹⁴ Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.
¹⁵ Department of Hepatology, Royal Free Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
¹⁶ Storr Liver Centre, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney at Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁷ Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute, The University of Sydney at Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁸ HepBCommunity.org, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁹ Hepatitis B Voices Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
²⁰ Africa Health Research Institute, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
²¹ Department of Hepatology, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
²² Division of Medical Virology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University and National Health Laboratory Service, Cape Town, South Africa.
²³ Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
²⁴ Division of Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
²⁵ Hepatitis B Foundation, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA.
²⁶ Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, Florham Park, New Jersey, USA.
²⁷ World Hepatitis Alliance, London, UK.
²⁸ CFID/CCT Taraba, Tarabba, Nigeria.
²⁹ The Hepatitis C Trust, London, UK.
³⁰ Hepatology Department, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK.
³¹ Liver Unit and National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at the University Hospitals Birmingham, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.

PMID: 38798022
DOI: 10.1111/jvh.13952

Abstract

Chronic hepatitis B infection (CHB) affects 300 million people worldwide and is being targeted by the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), working towards elimination of hepatitis B virus (HBV) as a public health threat. In this piece, we explore the evidence and potential impact of peer support to enhance and promote interventions for people living with CHB. Peer support workers (PSWs) are those with lived experience of an infection, condition or situation who work to provide support for others, aiming to improve education, prevention, treatment and other clinical interventions and to reduce the physical, psychological and social impacts of disease. Peer support has been shown to be a valuable tool for improving health outcomes for people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), but to date has not been widely available for communities affected by HBV. HBV disproportionately affects vulnerable and marginalised populations, who could benefit from PSWs to help them navigate complicated systems and provide advocacy, tackle stigma, improve education and representation, and optimise access to treatment and continuity of care. The scale up of peer support must provide structured and supportive career pathways for PSWs, account for social and cultural needs of different communities, adapt to differing healthcare systems and provide flexibility in approaches to care. Investment in peer support for people living with CHB could increase diagnosis, improve retention in care, and support design and roll out of interventions that can contribute to global elimination goals.

Keywords: advocacy; hepatitis B infection; patient care; peer support; sustainable development goals.

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References

REFERENCES

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Peer support for people living with hepatitis B virus-A foundation for treatment expansion

Affiliations

Peer support for people living with hepatitis B virus-A foundation for treatment expansion

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

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REFERENCES

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Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources