Community Pop‐Up Clinic: Cascade of Care and <scp>HCV</scp> Treatment of Vancouver's Inner‐City <scp>PWID</scp> Populations
Elimination of HCV infection as a public health concern by the end of this decade will require a concerted effort in all target populations, including drug-users in the inner-city. Several strategies have been proposed to identify, engage and provide HCV-infected residents with antiviral therapy and maximise treatment and cure achievement. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary approach in delivering HCV treatment to people who inject drugs (PWID) within Vancouver's inner city. We have evaluated a novel approach, the Community Pop-Up Clinic, for its ability to promote access to care and uptake of HCV therapy, with additional analyses of HCV reinfection and opioid-related mortality. From January 2021 to August 2023, we evaluated 1968 individuals. 620 (31.5%) were found to carry HCV antibodies and of these, 474 (76.5%) were found to be viremic. Treatment engagement has been secured in 387 (81.6%). 326 (84.2%) have started treatment, 60 in the pre-treatment phase and 1 died of an overdose in pre-treatment. Of 326, 302 completed treatments, 18 are currently on treatment and 1 died of an overdose. Of 302 who completed treatment, 286 confirmed as cured (SVR 12), 16 are awaiting SVR 4, 2 had documented virologic relapse and 1 was reinfected. Three patients withdrew from treatment. By mITT, the cure rate is 286/288 (99.3%). We documented 2 overdose deaths over 326 PY. The data presented validates multidisciplinary programs such as ours aimed at treating HCV in inner-cities and highlights societal benefits that could be achieved including lower overdose death rates.
Authors
- Shawn Sharma
- David Truong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3190-784X)
- Shana Yi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4284-0760)
- Brian E. Conway
- Christina Wiesmann
Institutions
- Simon Fraser University (CA)
- Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Viral Hepatitis
- Published
- 2024-10-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/jvh.14023
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.39