Dépistage des hépatites au sein d’une association culturelle et cultuelle pakistanaise : retour d’expérience.

Abstract

Introduction: Pakistan has the second highest prevalence of hepatitis C globally. The Musafir study, set up in 2018 in a Parisian suburb to understand the representations of hepatitis and HIV within the Urdu-speaking, male, migrant community living there, provided an opportunity to think about culturally acceptable health promotion interventions. These included awareness campaigns on hepatitis—which did not cover the question of HIV, considered taboo—, held in a mosque.

Purpose of the research: The aim of this article is to describe the implementation of awareness and testing campaigns within a Pakistani religious and cultural association.

Method: A partnership with a Pakistani association that runs a place of worship enabled awareness and testing campaigns for hepatitis and HIV to be carried out, thanks to the involvement of the association’s managers and the imam.

Results: Between February and June 2023, 113 people were tested during the five campaigns that were carried out. The population screened consisted almost exclusively of Urdu-speaking men. Anti-HCV antibodies were found in six people, three of whom had already recovered, and two people tested positive for HBV. No cases of HIV were detected.

Conclusions: The prevalence of hepatitis C found was 5.3 percent, in line with the prevalence in Pakistan. This experiment highlighted the feasibility conditions of a partnership with a faith-based organization and offers ideas for developing this type of initiative in France.