Community Reach: Community-Based Screening Program for Hepatitis C Among People Who Use Drugs, Arizona

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Background Efforts to eliminate hepatitis C are hampered by the inability to reach communities with screening opportunities, especially people who use drugs. Purpose To evaluate the feasibility and impact of a community-based hepatitis C screening program for people who use drugs in Arizona. Methods This study is a secondary analysis of hepatitis C screening and participant survey data gathered from July 18, 2019 through March 23, 2020. The primary outcome measure was a reactive HCV test. The survey measured demographics in an open-ended manner, presenting an array of response options allowing participants to self-define their identities. The analysis was conducted in 2021. Results The sample included 541 people from 12 of Arizona’s 15 counties. Over half of the sample (50.8%) reported ever injecting drugs and 21% of the participants were reactive for HCV. Conclusions Community-based HCV screening among people who use drugs by harm reduction organizations will significantly assist public health efforts to identify people in need of curative HCV treatment early and within supportive environments to address it.