HCV Elimination: A Multi-society Perspective (ondemand)-HCV Elimination

Video Transcription

Video Summary

This webinar, jointly sponsored by AASLD, IDSA, INHSU, and ESCMID/ESGVH, focused on global progress toward hepatitis C elimination and the remaining gaps.<br /><br />Dr. Natasha Martin opened by explaining the concept of hepatitis C “treatment as prevention.” Early modeling showed that scaling up treatment among people who inject drugs, especially when combined with harm reduction such as opioid agonist therapy and needle/syringe programs, could sharply reduce incidence and prevalence. While this promise has been realized in some places, globally it has not yet been achieved. She highlighted persistent high rates of new infections, low testing and treatment coverage, and inadequate harm reduction access in many countries. However, success stories from Australia, Scotland, and England showed that with political commitment, decentralized care, and robust harm reduction, major incidence reductions are possible.<br /><br />Dr. Nora Turow emphasized that diagnosis remains the biggest bottleneck. She reviewed global data showing that only a minority of people with HCV are diagnosed. She discussed strategies to improve screening, including electronic medical record prompts, direct patient messaging, universal or targeted screening in high-risk settings, reflex RNA testing, point-of-care testing, and re-engaging people who were previously diagnosed but lost to care. She also stressed the importance of empowering primary care to both diagnose and treat HCV.<br /><br />Dr. Federico Garcia argued that elimination is primarily an operational challenge, not a pharmacologic one. He described how countries can reduce the gap by simplifying diagnostic pathways, integrating care where patients already are, using laboratory intelligence, strengthening linkage, and building national elimination plans with policy support.<br /><br />The webinar concluded that hepatitis C elimination is achievable, but only if systems are simplified, care is decentralized, and screening and treatment are scaled up.

Keywords

hepatitis C elimination

treatment as prevention

harm reduction

opioid agonist therapy

needle and syringe programs

diagnosis bottleneck

screening strategies

reflex RNA testing

point-of-care testing

primary care

decentralized care

linkage to care