Hepatitis C is relatively common among people who use or have used drugs. However, this group often faces barriers to accessing hospital-based care. This thesis shows that a history of addiction does not have to limit access to high-quality hepatitis C care. Once patients enter specialist care, they receive care comparable to, and sometimes more intensive than, that provided to the general population. The research further demonstrates that hepatitis C treatment can be successfully delivered within addiction care services. In a nationwide care model, patients were tested and treated in familiar addiction care settings, often without requiring a hospital visit. Among infected patients, 86% was treated successfully. This approach was deemed valuable and well suited to patient needs. At the same time, organizational and financial barriers limited wider implementation. These findings highlight the important role addiction care services can play in reducing hepatitis C and supporting the World Health Organization’s goal of eliminating hepatitis C as a public health threat.
Daan Von den Hoff (1993) obtained his medical degree from Radboud University in 2019. He subsequently started his PhD research on hepatitis C care within addiction services while working as a physician at Iriszorg. Since 2023, he has been working at the Department of Psychiatry of the Radboud university medical center, where he is currently training as a psychiatrist.