Sponsored Symposiums
Putting the individual first: patient-centric management of HCV
13.15–14.15 AEDT / 10.15–11.15 AWST / 12.15–13.15 AEST Wednesday 13 October 2021
Join Jason Grebely, Chris Gough, Joss O’Loan and Leanne Myers for the Gilead-sponsored symposium ‘Putting the individual first: patient-centric management of HCV’, taking place from 13.15–14.15 AEDT on Wednesday 13 October 2021, during the 9th International Conference on Health and Hepatitis Care in Substances Users.
Great strides have been made to simplify the HCV care cascade, allowing more patients to access HCV care and curative treatment. However, linking vulnerable people with HCV infection to care, such as those who use drugs, remains an area that can be improved.
To engage these patients, we have to do more to address their concerns. In this symposium, the panel will discuss how even with a legacy of stigma and discrimination, patients can become empowered to seek the care they deserve. The expert faculty will share examples of how treatment individualisation and integration of HCV care with multiple stakeholders has helped to overcome these barriers and is improving rates of treatment uptake in these patients.
Experience and impact of different models of care using point-of-care testing for Hepatitis C
8:00 – 8:45AM AEDT / 5:00 – 5:45AM AWST / 7:00 – 7:45AM AEST Thursday 14 October
The WHO global health sector strategy to eliminate viral hepatitis C as a major public health threat by 2030 identifies the key role of diagnostics and linkage to care. Individuals at risk of transmitting HCV, such as people who inject drugs, have poor access to testing and therefore treatment. Complicated multi-step diagnostic pathways based on antibody screening and RNA confirmation represent barriers that discourage at-risk populations from testing.
To help achieve the 2030 elimination targets a simple one-step pathway with a fast RNA diagnostic at the point of care may lead to increased linkage to care in key populations. The Xpert HCV VL Fingerstick* on the GeneXpert® System enables RNA quantitative results available in less than 1 hour at the point of care. Presented by Amanda Kvassay and Louise Davies, this session will focus on the experience and impact of point-of-care fingerstick testing with the GeneXpert in different settings.
Chaired by Francois Lamoury, Technical Support Manager, Cepheid ANZ you will hear from Louise Davies, Senior Biomedical Scientist, Public Health Wales, Wales Specialist Virology Centre on
“Redesigning the model of care to achieve elimination in a prison in Wales using point of care HCV RNA testing” and Amanda Kvassay, Project Officer, Queensland Injectors Health Network on “Implementing Point-of-Care Hep C RNA Testing in Community-Based NSPs: Challenges and Successes”.
Prioritizing decentralized care for HCV-infected patients: A unique opportunity for addiction medicine
1:15–2:15 PM (AEDT), 4:15–5:15 AM (CEST) Thursday 14th October 2021
Please join Prof. Brian Conway, Jody Gilmore, MSN, ANP-BC, and Prof. Andrew Lloyd for an engaging AbbVie-sponsored virtual symposium that will explore the rationale for prioritizing HCV care for people who inject drugs (PWID) in a peri/post-COVID world and highlight the multifaceted benefits of cure for the individual patient. The speakers will also discuss the importance of decentralized care in reaching marginalized patient groups and demonstrate how simplified care can be adapted to a variety of settings in order to engage the disengaged. The symposium will also be available to watch on-demand on the INHSU virtual platform for a period of 3 months.