HEP-HOP

The Health Equity Programme: Hepatitis Outreach for Migrant Populations

Migrants and refugees in Europe often struggle to access viral hepatitis (HBV and HCV) prevention, screening, and care, often leading to late diagnosis, worse health outcomes, and a higher burden of liver disease. These barriers, often systemic and sociocultural in nature, are compounded by the infections' silent nature. The Health Equity Program: Hepatitis Outreach for Migrant Populations (HEP-HOP) project aims to overcome these barriers by improving, scaling up, and evaluating community-based programmes for viral hepatitis screening, HBV vaccination, and linkage to care. A critical focus will be on understanding and tackling vaccine misinformation, disinformation, and hesitancy among at-risk migrant and refugee populations in Belgium, Latvia, and Spain to support HBV vaccination uptake.

The specific objectives of the HEP-HOP project include:

1. Expand access to decentralised services by implementing and evaluating community-based screening and vaccination programs;
2. Enhance linkage to care by increasing the number of people living with viral hepatitis who are screened, diagnosed, and linked to care;
3. Decrease HBV vaccination hesitancy by addressing vaccine mis/disinformation and increasing health literacy levels;
4. Strengthen health system capacity by training community health workers (CHWs) and non-healthcare personnel (e.g., community teachers) to deliver viral hepatitis services and combat vaccine mis/disinformation;
5. Evaluate impact and disseminate best practices by conducting evaluations to measure interventions’ impact; and,
6. Share findings to inform future policies and programs across Europe