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People in prison are disproportionately affected by viral hepatitis. To examine the current epidemiology of and responses targeting hepatitis B virus (HBV) in prisons across the European Union, European Economic Area and United Kingdom, we analysed HBV-specific data from the World Health Organization's Health in Prisons European Database and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's hepatitis B prevalence database. Hepatitis B surface antigen seroprevalence ranged from 0% in a maximum-security prison in United Kingdom to 25.2% in two Bulgarian juvenile detention centres. Universal HBV screening on opt-out basis and vaccination were reported available in 31% and 85% of 25 countries, respectively. Disinfectants, condoms and lubricants were offered free of charge in all prisons in the country by 26%, 46% and 15% of 26 countries, respectively. In 38% of reporting countries, unsupervised partner visits with the possibility for sexual intercourse was available in all prisons. The findings are suggestive of high HBV prevalence amidst suboptimal coverage of interventions in prisons. A harmonised monitoring system and robust data at national and regional levels are needed to better understand the HBV situation in prisons within the framework of the European action plan and Global Health Sector Strategy on viral hepatitis.

Background: Since 2007 the economic recession has hit most industrial countries and this raises the question of how economic hardship affects illicit drug users' decisions to enter drug treatment., Methods: We test the hypothesis that an improvement in the employment prospects, as measured by a decline in unemployment, strengthens the intrinsic motivation of an unemployed drug user to enter treatment. Our hypothesis is that the "payoff" of entering treatment increases when the unemployed drug user has a greater probability of finding a job. We reviewed the literature and found considerable evidence to substantiate this effect. We tested the hypothesis econometrically using two different data sets, one EU-wide and one German data set., Results: Our main findings were that unemployment has a significant negative effect on the number of drug users entering treatment, i.e. when unemployment declines (increases) the number of drug treatment clients increases (declines). We also found that unemployed drug users entering treatment are most sensitive to variations in the economy-wide unemployment rate. Employed drug users, in contrast, are not influenced by these variations when deciding to enter treatment., Conclusion: Our empirical results confirm that the creation of job prospects adds significantly to the willingness of unemployed drug users to enter treatment. This lends support to the idea that drug treatment should be embedded in programmes to improve the job prospects of drug users., (Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Little is known about the knowledge and use of technology-based interventions (TBIs) by health personnel working in the addiction field across Europe. Methods: An online questionnaire was designed using SurveyMonkey® in order to determine the level of knowledge, use and perceived efficacy of TBIs in substance use disorders (SUDs), among health professionals across six EU Member States: Germany, Italy, UK, France, Poland and the Netherlands. The survey was sent to a convenience sample of 1200 addiction experts. Results: Surveyed participants (311, response rate 26%), had a mean professional addiction experience of 17 years; 23% stated to have good knowledge of TBIs, while 12% use them in their clinical practice. Forty-six percent consider TBIs useful in the treatment of addiction, and 44% foresee a significant increase of them in the future. TBIs were considered important for people facing barriers to accessing treatment (63%) and for providing support outside the formal care settings (60%). Lack of technical support (48%), poor infrastructure and equipment (42%), and lack of digital literacy among health workers (38%) were identified as the main obstacles in the diffusion of TBIs. Conclusions: Knowledge and utilisation of TBIs among health workers in drug addiction field is low. Nevertheless, TBIs are perceived as a possible means of facilitation in providing access to treatment, and as therapeutic tools which will become more important in the future. The need to improve training policies, awareness and attitudes towards TBIs among EU health professionals, working in the field of addiction is paramount. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]