Scottish researchers taking part in pioneering Hepatitis C study
The results will be used to guide clinical practice and policy, and support NHS decisions on whether drug users should be targeted for early treatment.
Researchers have announced a major £2.8 million study looking into how Hepatitis C can be eliminated.
The virus, a major cause of liver disease and cancer, is estimated to affect around 200,000 people in the UK, with most having injected drugs.
Treatment can now cure more than 90% of patients within 8-12 weeks with few side effects, however the cost of new antivirals is significant.
The five-year study, led by Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) and the University of Bristol and announced ahead of World Hepatitis Day on Saturday, will look at whether the virus can be eliminated entirely if treatment is sufficiently increased.
The results will be used to guide clinical practice and policy, and support NHS decisions on whether drug users should be targeted for early treatment.
During the study researchers will treat up to 500 people who inject drugs over a period of two years in NHS Tayside.
Treatment will be offered in a number of settings including pharmacies, addiction services, and prisons.
It is anticipated this intervention, involving "major and rapid scale-up of treatment'' will reduce chronic Hepatitis C in the population of people who inject drugs by two-thirds from 30% to 10%.
The researchers will assess if this also helps people to recover from their addiction and whether there are long-term, cost-effective benefits to the NHS by providing greater access to HCV (Hepatitis C virus) drugs in the community.
Professor Sharon Hutchison, the joint-lead investigator in the study, said: "The study will generate empirical evidence as to whether treating people who inject drugs can reduce the spread of infection.
"We know that people who inject drugs may become reinfected. However, we also know that the new HCV drugs are highly effective.
"We hypothesise that if HCV treatment is increased sufficiently, eventually the virus could be eliminated. The study will test this using population-level data across the UK.''
Researchers from GCU and Bristol will also collaborate with a number of other institutions including Dundee, Cambridge and Queen Mary universities, Health Protection Scotland, NHS Tayside, Public Health England, the Scottish Drugs Forum, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of California San Diego.
The study is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).