Join us for this special event!
Hep C in Focus is a special virtual event featuring presentations, community networking, and resources. Registration provides access to all sessions of the day, which is scheduled to include breaks. You may join any of the sessions using the same registration link. Hep C in Focus is produced in cooperation with our colleague Monte Strong of the Hepatitis C Leadership Project.
We look forward to this being a collaborative event. We want to connect with you, chat with you, and learn about your work. We are building time into this event for that purpose, and look forward to meeting new people to this work and reconnecting with folks already in the community. The chat will stay open during breaks so people can connect throughout the day.
In exchange for this free learning event, we expect that you will complete the evaluations – one immediately afterwards, and one a couple of months later – to learn more about how the information has impacted your work. Especially in this time of adapting our programs to COVID-19 distancing, evaluation helps us learn what works for you, and where we could make changes for future events. Whether you join us for one session, or all, we’d like to hear from you.
Program at a Glance
Session details follow schedule
9:00 AM: Opening, introductions, community networking, and resources
9:30 AM: Bridging the gaps: Equitable access to hepatitis C treatment for people who inject drugs
10:30 – 11:00 AM: Break to chat, share info, look at resources
11:00 AM: Who Are We Missing? Changing the Hep C Cascade of Care for Women
12:15 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 PM: Stigma Big and Small: Experiences of Women
2:30 PM Close and evaluation
Program Details
9:00 AM: Territorial Acknowledgments and opening
Territorial Acknowledgement, opening, introductions, community networking. Introduction of resources. A list of resources will be available following the event.
9:30 – 10:30 AM: Bridging the gaps: Equitable access to hepatitis C treatment for people who inject drugs
Bridging the gaps: Equitable access to hepatitis C treatment for people who inject drugs will share insights from a recent study about equitable access to hepatitis C treatment for people who inject drugs who live in British Columbia (BC). In 2018, the province of BC implemented free and universal access to the newest generation of hepatitis C treatments – direct-acting antivirals. These medications have few side effects and are highly effective at curing hepatitis C. Yet, opportunities for many people who inject drugs to “take up” these treatments are limited by various healthcare, social, and structural barriers (e.g., stigma, housing, care coordination). Drawing on their research at the BC Centre on Substance Use, Trevor Goodyear (registered nurse; master’s student), Lianping Ti (research scientist; assistant professor), and Rod Knight (research scientist; assistant professor), will share challenges and opportunities to ensuring that hepatitis C treatments in BC are accessible to all, including people who inject drugs.
This session will provide:
- Background on hepatitis C virus, its treatments, and its impact on people who inject dugs
- Summary of findings from a recent study on hepatitis C treatment scale-up in British Columbia
- Overview of barriers to hepatitis C treatment access for people who inject drugs
- Discussion on strategies for promoting equitable hepatitis C care for folks who inject drugs
10:30 – 11:00 Break
11:00 – 12:15 Who Are We Missing? Changing the Hep C Cascade of Care for Women
The cascade of care is a framework used by the health system to track people through stages of care, from diagnosis through cure. This webinar will turn that cascade upside down, looking at the numbers of women who don’t go through the whole cascade and speaking to some of the reasons why. We will present a panel of women with lived experiences as well as data from the Hepatitis C Testers Cohort to look at gender-specific issues, missed opportunities to engage with women, and how to make services easier to reach.
12:15 – 1:00 Lunch break
1:00 – 2:30 PM Stigma Big and Small: Experiences of Women
Stigma has been mentioned by the women with lived experience at each stage of program development. It presents before, during, and post diagnosis, and even cure. This panel discussion will share the impacts of stigma and how to create better environments for women dealing with hepatitis C before and after treatment.
2:30 PM Conclusion and Evaluation
Suggested attendees:
- People with lived experience of hepatitis C, community members, and other allies
- Hepatitis C and HIV organization staff and volunteers
- Clinicians working with people who inject drugs and/or who have hepatitis C
- Policy makers and researchers in the fields of hepatitis C and/or substance use
- Residents of BC seeking more information about hepatitis C care
Registration Information
Registration is now closed. Sessions will be recorded and available on-demand after editing.
For more information, contact Janet Madsen: [email protected]
We greatly appreciate the vision of our government funders and their ongoing commitment to supporting the work of the Pacific AIDS Network. In particular we gratefully acknowledge the Public Health Agency of Canada – HIV and Hepatitis C Community Action Fund. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Source image by jplenio on Pixabay