Hepatitis. ECHO: the hub & spoke program connecting primary care with expert centres
Hepatitis. ECHO: the hub & spoke program connecting primary care with expert centres
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization reported that its goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a global public health threat by 2030 has come well within reach, with 194 governments committed to hepatitis elimination; drastic price reductions in medicines through the use of generics; and effective harm reduction, screening, and treatment approaches currently available. Close to 3 million people have been able to access treatment for hepatitis C over the past 2 years, and 2.8 million people started lifelong treatment for hepatitis B in 2016 alone. Yet yearly rates of new infections continue to increase worldwide. Rapid global scale-up of screening, prevention, and treatment services – putting knowledge of those services into the hands of the frontline healthcare providers who serve communities and patients most at risk – is crucial if the dream of eliminating hepatitis is ever to be fully realized.1
Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is an innovative tool for the dissemination of medical knowledge to providers in medically underserved areas, which has the potential to tip the scales of worldwide efforts to halt the advance of hepatitis. It is not “telemedicine,” wherein a specialist assumes the care of a patient; rather, it enables primary care providers to care more effectively for patients in their own communities. (EASL-ILF, Newsletter #3, Februar 2018)