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Young people are to be recruited to lead an in-depth Scottish government study into child and adolescent mental health services.

Between 15 and 20 people aged 14-22 , from a variety of backgrounds, will be selected as part of the new youth commission on mental health services.

The working group will report back to ministers with recommendations.

Mental Health Minister Maureen Watt announced £95,000 of funding to establish the new commission.

• Fewer children on adult mental health wards
• School counselling support 'patchy'
• Children face 12-month mental health wait
• Read more here

SNP MSP Fulton MacGregor asks how the government ensures that the voices of young people are heard during the development of mental health services.

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Health and sport ministers are in the hot seat for this week's portfolio questions.

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Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell says Scotland has been leading on efforts to tackle hepatitis C over the last 10 years, even informing the World Health Organization's action plan.

The Scottish government remains committed to eliminating hepatitis C as a public health concern, Ms Campbell asserts.

I have recently asked Health Protection Scotland to consider how best to eliminate the virus, she adds.

"We are treating more people and we are treating them successfully. But we must also increase treatment capacity in a sustainable way."

The Scottish government is also currently considering a national awareness campaign and also how to raise awareness among GPs, the minister says.

Ms Campell confirms she is fully considering the recommendations made in the Hepatitis C Trust report.

The minister will meet with NHS Tayside next Tuesday to talk about its approach to the disease and whether this can be rolled out across Scotland.

The Hepatitis C Trust says: "At the start of this year, the Scottish Government announced a revised treatment target of 2,000 people initiating hepatitis C treatment in 2018/19.

"Though this represents an increase on the target of 1,800 people beginning treatment in 2017/18, the uplift is much smaller than the significant decline in treatment costs over the same time period.

"The Hepatitis C Trust’s report, published with the support of a cross-party group of Parliamentary Champions, has suggested that all treatment cost reductions should be re-invested into finding and treating greater numbers of people."

Image source, Hepatitis C Trust

"Though Scotland has previously been considered the leader among UK nations in moving towards elimination, NHS England announced, external in January 2018 it would aim to eliminate hepatitis C by 2025 at the latest, five years earlier than the World Health Organization’s goal."

"The Scottish Government has stated that it plans to release a hepatitis c ‘elimination plan’ later this year, though no further detail about the promised plan has yet been released.

"An estimated 37,000 people in Scotland are infected with hepatitis C, with approximately 40% remaining undiagnosed. Hepatitis C is preventable, treatable and curable, but can cause fatal cirrhosis and liver cancer if left untreated."

Green MSP Alison Johnstone says: "This is absolutely a public health issue."

"We must do as much as we possibly can - much more - to diagnose and treat people."

Ms Johnstone praises the Edinburgh Access Practice and its outreach work on hepatitis C.

We've come a long way on treatment and more must be done to test and treat people, she argues.

The Green MSP recommends an opt-out testing system should be put in place in prisons and, upon release, any treatment should follow patients.

"This is an area in which Scotland could easily be leading. Let's lead," she concludes.

Image source, The Hepatitis C Trust

Ahead of this debat Charles Gore, the chief executive of The Hepatitis C Trust, external, said: “Without renewed efforts to find and treat the undiagnosed patients living with hepatitis C, Scotland may no longer be considered a world leader in tackling this cancer-causing virus.

"We can eliminate hepatitis C by getting out there and treating every single person we can find. We know what we need to do, and - especially in Scotland - the infrastructure and enthusiasm to do it already exists. We just need to get on with it.”

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Labour MSP Anas Sarwar thanks the Hep C Trust for putting this report together and supporting all the parliamentary champions.

Scottish Labour's health spokesperson recognises the report as ambitious and supports the government's target to eliminate hep C by 2030.

He hopes its strategy will outline how this will be achieved.

Mr Sarwar insists none of us want Scotland to fall behind and he urges the government to look to England and France where the target is 2025.

We want a detailed, deliverable strategy, he concludes.

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Last June we reported charity Waverley Care , externalcalled for greater efforts to eliminate Hepatitis C (HCV) from Scotland.

There are about 37,000 people living with the virus - but campaigners say as many again are undiagnosed.

A meeting in Edinburgh called on the NHS to alter its focus so Scotland can be free of the disease by 2030.

The Scottish government published a new policy on sexual health and blood borne virus treatment in 2016.

Scotland has a good record in tackling Hepatitis C, a disease affecting the liver, and often associated with drug injecting.

A greater proportion of those affected have been treated here than any other UK nation.

Tory MSP Miles Briggs praises the Hepatitis C Trust report.

Prevalence among those who inject substances and prisoners is higher, he notes.

Mr Briggs welcomes the Scottish government's commitment to create a framework on blood borne viruses.

A step change is needed to be able to meet the new annual targets on hepatitis C, the Tory MSP tells the chamber.

Mr Briggs also calls for savings made from changes to treatment of hepatitis C to be reinvested back into service redesign.

MSPs are debating the findings of a report calling for a national strategy to eliminate hepatitis C, including ambitious targets to decrease national incidence, mortality and overall prevalence.

The motion, external, tabled by Tom Arthur MSP and supported by a broad cross-party coalition of MSPs, follows a report, external published in January by The Hepatitis C Trust , externalwhich found that Scotland is currently not on track to achieve its commitment to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030.

Image source, The Hepatitis C Trust

Accordiing to The Hepatitis C Trust, Scotland’s Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Framework (2015-2020) is considered a model of international good practice, and has led to significant increases in the numbers of people diagnosed and treated for hepatitis C in Scotland over the past decade.However the charity says expert contributors to The Hepatitis C Trust’s report agreed that significantly greater numbers of people must be tested, diagnosed and treated in coming years if Scotland is to avoid falling behind in efforts to eliminate hepatitis C.

It says worryingly, the incidence of new hepatitis C infections among people who inject drugs in 2015/16 was reported as almost double that of 2011/2012.

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Mr Arthur explains over 40% living with hepatitis C are not aware of their status.

The SNP MSP points to the Hepatitis C Trust report's comments on stigma around diagnosis of hepatitis C.

The report also says drug misuse should be treated as a public health issue.

Mr Arthur commends the recommendations in the report.

This is a great opportunity to achieve elimination of the disease by 2030 and "consign hepatitis C to history".