Social determinants of health contribute to hepatitis C viral (HCV) disparities by influencing risk and protective factors through multi-level and multi-domain pathways of social systems and structures. Although the causal mechanisms of HCV disparities and their real-world processes are not clear, interventions addressing systems and structures of inequitable allocation and/or access to resources have proven to be effective in HCV reduction and treatment efforts in populations experiencing disparities.

As the United States (US) works towards establishing a national HCV elimination program, approaches involving policies and/or programs that focus on reducing systemic barriers and improving access to HCV prevention, testing, and treatment are needed to reach this goal for all populations and across the US. In this webinar, speakers and panelists conducting research in diverse settings, including San Francisco, Alaska, and San Antonio, will discuss policy- and systems-level interventions and community-based services to improving care and delivery among populations disproportionately affected by HCV.

Agenda

Introduction and Opening Remarks:

Dr. John Ward, Director, Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination

Dr. Monica Webb Hooper, Deputy Director, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

Featured Speakers:

"Eliminating Hepatitis C Infection in Urban and Rural Alaska: Unique Challenges and Progress to date" 

Dr. Brian J. McMahon, Clinical Liver Specialist (Hepatologist) and Director of the Liver Disease and Hepatitis Program, Alaska Native Medical Center

"No One Waits: Community-Based Approaches to HCV Elimination in San Francisco"

Dr. Jennifer Price, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of GI/Hepatology, University of California San Francisco

"STOP HCC-HCV: A Community-based Approach to Integrate HCV Screening and Treatment in  Rural Primary Care"

Dr. Bertha Flores, Associate Professor, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio

Panel Discussion: 

• Dr. Amy Krawiec, Chief of Statewide HIV, Hepatitis and Renal Transplant Programs for California Correctional Health Care Services
• Dr. Julius Wilder, Transplant Hepatologist, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine