The Addiction Care Unit (UAA) Doctora Rosa Torres Martínez, which reports to the Department of Social Welfare and Inclusion of the Lanzarote Council, has obtained the special certification of Center committed to the elimination of the Hepatitis C virus. The distinction has been awarded by Hepcelentes, a project promoted by the Spanish Society of Health Executives (SEDISA), in collaboration with Gilead Sciences.
The Area Councilor, Marci Acuña, congratulated the service staff for their "great social work and effort, as it has made it possible for this to be the first addiction center in the province of Las Palmas to achieve it".
"This achievement reaffirms our commitment to offer early diagnosis programs, treatments and continuous support to those affected by Hepatitis C. We will continue working to reduce the incidence of this disease and improve the quality of life of the community," the councilor said.
A systematic screening
The UAA Doctora Rosa Torres Martínez began collaborating in 2021 with the Digestive Service of the Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital in the screening -a strategy that detects a disease in individuals without signs or symptoms-, and in the subsequent treatment of cases of this infection among people with addictions.
To date, the center has screened 92% of the users who are within the Opioid Substitution Program. Of this percentage, 61 of the cases were negative, 52 had other pathologies that were being followed up by the Hospital, and 46 tested positive, of which 25 underwent complete treatment at the Doctora Rosa Torres Martínez Unit
