What are the current UK guidelines for screening high-risk populations for Hepatitis C?

UK guidelines recommend offering hepatitis C testing to populations at increased risk, including people who have ever injected drugs, people born or brought up in countries with an intermediate or high prevalence (2% or greater), prisoners, and people living in homeless hostels or on the streets ¹.

GPs and practice nurses should offer testing for hepatitis C to adults and children at increased risk, particularly migrants from medium- or high-prevalence countries and people who inject or have injected drugs ¹.

Testing should be considered in settings such as prisons, immigration removal centres, and through local community services serving migrant populations, with policies developed in partnership with local health authorities ¹.

People identified as positive should be referred for specialist assessment and ongoing management ².