(Central Suffolk and North
Ipswich) (Con): I congratulate my hon. Friend on
securing the debate and more generally on all his work on this
issue and on promoting effective liver health during the many
years he has been an MP.
On prevention, given that intravenous drug use is one of the
primary causes of the transmission of hepatitis C, does he agree
that at the moment a lot of drugs policy is seen far too much
through the prism of the criminal justice system? We need to
bring that much more into the health domain. Effective working
with prisons and with the Ministry of Justice is vital if we are
to get on top of this issue, reduce infection rates and provide
proper treatment for people who are infected.
Sir (Southend West) (Con): My hon. Friend was
a Health Minister and has real expertise in this area. I shall
use the expression “joined-up government”. He is absolutely right
that we need Departments to work together. That is why it was so
good that we visited the prison.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and
Social Care (Steve Brine): I may be able to help my hon.
Friend here. As he knows, the drug strategy board is a
cross-government committee. It met yesterday, chaired by the Home
Secretary, and its members include the Justice Secretary, Health
Ministers, Home Office Ministers, Housing, Communities and Local
Government Ministers and representatives from the Department for
Work and Pensions, as well as senior police officers,
representatives from the National Crime Agency and a
representative of the Police and Crime Commissioners. That board
takes that cross-government look, and hepatitis C is certainly an
issue I would like to see it look at...
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