Theme: Epidemiology and Public Health Research Year: 2021
Background: Increased hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening among people who are incarcerated (PWAI) is key for elimination efforts to be successful. This study aims to evaluate the impact on HCV screening and diagnosis in all 10 British Columbia (BC) Provincial Correctional Centres (PCCs), after responsibility for health services was transferred from BC Corrections to Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) in October 2017. Methods: Data from BC Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory (BCCDC PHL), which performs >95% of all anti-HCV and >99% of all HCV RNA and genotype tests in BC, were used for this study. The number of anti-HCV, HCV RNA and HCV genotype tests that were ordered from BC PCCs between January 1 2010 and December 31 2019 was determined. The number of new HCV diagnosis while incarcerated was defined as the number of first-time anti-HCV-positive test results from the BCCDC PHL among clients residing in BC PCCs. Results: Compared to 2017, HCV antibody, RNA, and genotype tests ordered from BC PCCs in 2019 increased by 215% (n=1383), 322% (n=674) and 377% (n=186), respectively (Figure 1). In 2019, 5.7% (79/1383) of anti-HCV tested PWAI received a new HCV diagnosis, with the number of new HCV diagnoses increasing by 140% compared to 2017. In 2017, an estimated 3.5% (639/18,315) of people entering BC PCCs received an HCV test, which increased to 15.3% (2243/14,703) in 2019. Conclusion: The transfer of health services in BC PCCs to PHSA led to increased volume of HCV screening, with concomitant increases in new HCV diagnoses among PWAI in BC. Future work will evaluate if these changes also resulted in improved linkage to care for HCV within BC PCCs. Additional efforts should be taken in BC PCCs to increase HCV screening to maximise potential impact on identification of PWAI with undiagnosed HCV infection. 299/300 words Disclosure of Interest Statement: SB has spoken and consulted for Gilead Sciences Canada Inc & AbbVie Canada, all personal payments from commercial entities were given directly to BCCDC Foundation for Public Health as an unrestricted donation. MK has received grant funding via his institution from Roche Molecular Systems, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics and Hologic Inc.
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