High risk groups are still not being vaccinated

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7484.198

BMJ 2005;330:198 (22 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7484.198

Letter

High risk groups are still not being vaccinated

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Aggarwal and Ranjan highlighted the global burdenof hepatitis B and say that vaccination is the mainstay of prevention.¹They also describe the vaccination's lifelong efficacy and costeffectiveness. With such a clear evidence base and the recognitionthat certain high risk groups—such as injecting drug users—mustbe vaccinated, the availability of vaccination services to thispopulation is disappointing.

In a recent national survey of all UK drug treatment agencies,only a quarter of drug services routinely provided hepatitistesting and vaccination for hepatitis B, and a quarter did notoffer this service at all.² Often associated with equally limitedaccess to hepatitis C testing, the absence of such service provisionnot only needlessly exposes vulnerable individuals to preventablerisk but also denies the chance for positive behavioural changethat can be seen in those who are made aware of their viralstatus.

The authors say that, in . . . [Full text of this article]

Adam R Winstock, area clinical director

Drug Health Services, South Western Sydney Area Health Service, PO Box 39, Liverpool BC, NSW 1871, Australia Adam.Winstock@swsahs.nsw.gov.au