News

HepCURE is pleased to announce the launch of the first Provincial Hepatitis C Referral Line for marginalized people living with Hepatitis C in Ontario. People living with Hepatitis C and will now be able to self register by phone in a confidential manner for assistance in accessing Hep C treatment.

The telephone intake line is accessible 24/7/365 and is available in English and French. Community based agencies who support marginalized people may also contact the intake line on behalf of their clients to register them and help them access HepCURE support services.

HepCURE’s telehealth services include telephone intake, a comprehensive health assessment and transportation assistance to medically required appointments which may be required prior to treatment initiation. HepCURE patients will also be able to contact the intake line for immediate assistance in replacing lost or stolen medication.

Individuals requiring treatment will be able to access treatment through HepCURE’s Preferred Pharmacy Network. HepCURE’s network of approved pharmacies provides patients access to smaller quantities of medication at a time and weekly adherence checks in community-based environments accessible to marginalized people; helping to reduce medication waste, prevent community reinfections and improve treatment related outcomes.

For more information about HepCURE’s provincial intake line and available services or to become a HepCURE Pharmacy Member please call: 1-833-HEPCURE (437-2873).

Hepatitis C affects approx. 250,000 Canadians; many of whom are marginalized. While there are a number of public and private databases available in Canada which provide healthcare professionals valuable information to help diagnose people requiring Hep C treatment, none of the available databases act as a single source of information which means the required information has be pieced together from multiple sources before a diagnosis can be confirmed. This often increases loss to follow up rates and unnecessary re-testing in marginalized patients and priority patient populations (many of whom have already done all of the required testing). In addition, most databases are restricted to clinicians and do not communicate or share real-time information with community-based agencies. 

Furthermore, inconsistent provider workflows, lack of proper patient consent and education, dispensing of large medication quantities, industry politics/competition and discrimination against marginalized people and those of who use drugs are leading to suboptimal treatment outcomes and higher reinfection rates in our communities. At $40,000 to $60,000 per treatment, we need to act responsibly, we need to work together, and we need a universal database where all providers can communicate and collaborate to better support marginalized patient communities.

HepCURE is pleased to announce that it has established the Hep C Registry which provides real time statistics and meaningful insights into the patient journey and allows multidisciplinary healthcare professionals and their teams to work together to eliminate duplicate workflows and processes to optimize diagnosis and treatment.

The Hep C Registry is fully compliant with Canadian privacy regulations, is multilingual and was developed over a 24-month period based on direct field experiences collected by HepCURE staff within a variety of clinical settings; including: pharmacies, safe injection sites, meal programs, drop-ins, respites, and shelters/hotel programs; representing over 2000 participants (both pre/post COVID-19).

The Hep C Registry is available to all organizations who offer or are interested in offering community based Hep C programming on a subscription basis and ensures proper documentation of patient consent, treatment, adherence monitoring, data collection/reporting and workflow optimization to deliver a unparalleled patient experience.

For more information on the Hep C Registry and how to become a HepCURE Member please call: 1-833-HEPCURE (437-2873).

We are pleased to announce the launch of our HepCURE Mobile Unit to support priority patient populations across Ontario. The HepCURE mobile unit will facilitate onsite screenings, clinical assessments and linkage to treatment for marginalized people at the highest risk of Hep C exposure while following appropriate COVID-19 safety protocols. People who are members of priority populations (such as marginalized people and those who use drugs) are often excluded from mainstream health services, and face high levels of stigma, discrimination, and other obstacles that make it difficult for them to access and utilize healthcare. Programs and services need to be informed by, appropriate for, and accessible, available, and acceptable to people who are members of priority populations in order to achieve HCV elimination goals. Furthermore, extraordinary measures are required to support people who use/inject drugs and prevent ongoing community spread of HCV among a vulnerable immune-compromised population while avoiding community spread of Covid-19.  Since March of 2020, when COVID-19 escalated in the Province of Ontario, many harm reduction and mental health and addiction services closed their doors or offered limited services, often in the virtual form. Lack of clean harm reduction supplies and treatment dropouts are contributing to fewer patients being tested and treated for HCV, thereby impacting the goal of viral Hepatitis C elimination by 2030. We look forward to sharing updates on our efforts towards Hep C elimination within priority patient populations.

Dried blood spot testing (DBS) is a testing process that uses drops of dried blood on a piece of filter paper. In dried blood spot testing, blood is collected through a finger prick. It is a simpler process than testing using blood plasma or serum drawn from a vein by a needle in a number of ways. A lower volume of blood is needed, blood transport and storage are simpler, and less equipment is required. 

Dried bloodspot testing for Hepatitis C is appropriate in situations where patients have poor or inaccessible venous access, needle phobia, where patients may feel “triggered” if they have a history of previous IV drug use or in cases where patients refuse bloodwork and are known to have a history of Hepatitis C and are at risk of infecting other members in their community which can lead to the spreading of Hepatitis C.

The challenge many providers face, is the difficulty in obtaining sufficient blood from one finger to fully saturate all 5 circles on the piece of filter DBS paper.

HepCURE is pleased to be able to share its technique for dried bloodspot testing. It requires less than 2 minutes and can be easily performed by collecting blood from any patient by positioning their arm in a downward position (as blood flows downwards), collecting the blood and moving the filtered paper in a circular motion so that the blood drops can spread evenly across the filer paper to completely fill the circles more easily; which is essential to avoid rejected samples.