A NHS board in the North East of Scotland has become the first in the country to routinely test for blood borne viruses.
NHS Grampian, which serves Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, and Moray, has announced plans to screen patients for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV.
Patients at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary’s emergency room who have blood work carried out will automatically be tested for the viruses.
People will be allowed to opt out of the screening.
NHS consultant Gareth Patton, who specialises in emergency medicine, said that a pilot programme successfully identified a range of undiagnosed blood borne virus (BBV) cases.
Patton noted: “We found around one-in-180 patients tested had a previously undiagnosed BBV and it allowed us to link that patient to specialist care - in many cases before they were showing any symptoms.
“Patients with BBV infections are often asymptomatic in the early stages, so there are people living with them who aren’t aware. The only way to find out if someone has a BBV is to carry out a test.
He added: “Across the globe and locally, there is ongoing transmission of all three BBVs, often with cases of late diagnosis. Our initiative is part of a Scottish Government drive to eliminate Hepatitis C, end new transmissions of HIV and treat people living with Hepatitis B.”
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Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said the ‘life saving initiative’ would be rolled out in Glasgow and Edinburgh early next year.
She noted: “We have made a huge amount of progress towards eliminating HIV and viral hepatitis in Scotland, expanding testing further helps us towards that goal as well as ensuring people are diagnosed early.
“Early diagnosis reduces transmission and improves clinical outcomes for people.
“I am heartened that we have been able to expand funding to enable NHS Grampian to participate in this roll out following their successful pilot.”
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