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.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jvh.14023 | DOI Listing |
Front Health Serv
December 2024
Family & Community Medicine, University of California San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco Angeles, CA, United States.
Many students enter medical school with aspirations of expanding healthcare to underserved communities and reducing healthcare access barriers; yet they lack the leadership skills to achieve this goal. This perspective discusses the role of student-run free clinics in developing medical students' leadership abilities-problem-solving, partnership building, planning, decision-making, and resource acquisition-to address the healthcare needs of marginalized patient populations. It also discusses how fostering leadership skills in the context of serving underserved patients also develops medical students' structural competency and thus awareness of how inequities embedded within hierarchies and social institutions shape health outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw
November 2024
School of Management, University of Bath, Bath, UK.
This study examined the influence of design "nudges" on bystanders' willingness to intervene in online harassment using a social media simulation. Utilizing a 2 × 2 experimental design, we tested the ability of key design features (community guidelines and pop-up messaging) to induce a sense of self-efficacy (low/high) and personal responsibility (low/high) and thence to influence intervention levels. Participants ( = 206) were invited to "beta test" a new social networking site (SNS) for 15 minutes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Viral Hepat
October 2024
Vancouver Infectious Diseases Center, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Public Health
October 2024
Canadian Center for Vaccinology, Dalhousie University, IWK Health, Nova Scotia Health, Goldbloom RCC Pavilion, 4th floor, 5850/5980 University Avenue, Halifax, NS, B3K 6R8, Canada.
AIDS Behav
October 2024
Wits RHI, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Progress has been made to scale oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as part of combination HIV prevention, with the WHO recommending differentiated, simplified and demedicalized approaches. This study explored user preferences for components of a PrEP service delivery package, through a discrete choice experiment (DCE) among 307 people accessing primary healthcare services in South Africa between November 2022 and February 2023. Attributes included were: Source of information about HIV prevention and PrEP; Site for PrEP initiation and follow-up; Frequency of follow-up; PrEP pick-up point; HIV testing whilst using PrEP; Contact between appointments.
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