Guidance
This guideline covers raising awareness of and testing for hepatitis B and C infection. It aims to ensure that people at increased risk of hepatitis B and C infection are tested.
NICE has also produced a guideline on the diagnosis and management of hepatitis B infection.
In March 2013, changes were made to recommendation 7 to clarify that all the actions detailed in this recommendation relate to those at increased risk of hepatitis B and C infection.
Recommendations
This guideline includes recommendations on:
- raising awareness about hepatitis B and C among the general population and people at increased risk of infection
- education and training for professionals who provide services for people at increased risk of infection
- testing for hepatitis B and C in primary care, prisons and immigration removal centres, drugs services, and sexual health and genitourinary medicine clinics
- tracing close contacts of people with hepatitis B infection
- neonatal hepatitis B vaccination
- commissioning integrated services for testing and treatment and laboratory services for testing
Who is it for?
- Commissioners and providers
- People at increased risk of viral hepatitis
- Members of the public
Is this guideline up to date?
November 2017: We found no new evidence that affects the recommendations in this guideline. See the review decision for more information.
Guideline development process
How we develop NICE guidelines
This guideline was previously called hepatitis B and C: ways to promote and offer testing to people at increased risk of infection.
Your responsibility
The recommendations in this guideline represent the view of NICE, arrived at after careful consideration of the evidence available. When exercising their judgement, professionals and practitioners are expected to take this guideline fully into account, alongside the individual needs, preferences and values of their patients or the people using their service. It is not mandatory to apply the recommendations, and the guideline does not override the responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families and carers or guardian.
All problems (adverse events) related to a medicine or medical device used for treatment or in a procedure should be reported to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency using the Yellow Card Scheme.
Local commissioners and providers of healthcare have a responsibility to enable the guideline to be applied when individual professionals and people using services wish to use it. They should do so in the context of local and national priorities for funding and developing services, and in light of their duties to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, to advance equality of opportunity and to reduce health inequalities. Nothing in this guideline should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with complying with those duties.
Commissioners and providers have a responsibility to promote an environmentally sustainable health and care system and should assess and reduce the environmental impact of implementing NICE recommendations wherever possible.