Testing for Hepatitis C, dental hygiene, addiction services for both drugs and alcohol, healthy eating, and BMI and blood pressure checks were all featured in a special health event at HMP Glenochil to promote World Hepatitis Day.
Held over three days, it was extremely well received and around 450 prisoners and 30 officers took up the offer of a Hep C test.
World Hepatitis Day is an annual event when organisations, charities and voluntary groups focus on raising awareness of the health risks associated with Hepatitis C and try to reduce the stigma associated with it. This year NHS Forth Valley were approached by the Hepatitis C Trust to ask if HMP Glenochil would be Scotland’s representative in a four-nation event focusing on health within prisons.
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) management, organisation and healthcare teams within HMP Glenochil, fully embraced this and worked closely with the NHS Forth Valley Sexual Health and Blood Borne Viruses MCN, and other health promotion organisations to stage the event. This was seen as a huge testament to the commitment of both the NHS and SPS staff to ensure that prisoners are provided with easy and equitable access to healthcare as well as education on how to look after their general health and wellbeing.
Outwith HMP Glenochil, there was also the opportunity on World Hepatitis Day for people to get a finger prick test for HIV, Hepatitis B and C at a mobile outreach van in the car park at Tillicoultry Health Centre. And charity Change Grow Live, which provides a wide range of drug and alcohol support services, ran a campaign to encourage people to get tested with a chance to enter a prize draw. Feedback from local people who have been treated and cured of Hep C treatment also featured on Central FM.
Featured image courtesy of Alloa Advertiser
