In September 2013, Project Inform will hold a think tank in Washington, DC entitled “Hepatitis C Testing: Addressing the Need in the Context of the Action Plan for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis.” This meeting will bring together 30 experts to critically address and strategize how best to implement HCV screening as outlined in the 2011 federal Action Plan, with particular emphasis on people born between 1945 and 1965.
Of the estimated 2.7 to 3.9 million people living with HCV in the United States, upwards of three-fourths of them were born between 1945 and 1965. In August 2012, the CDC announced recommendations for all persons born within this timeframe to receive one lifetime HCV test.
Implementation of these guidelines would uncover over 800,000 previously unknown infections and avert approximately 121,000 deaths. Unfortunately, the US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF)—the body that makes authoritative prevention recommendations—does not believe that the evidence exists nor do the benefits outweigh the harms of such a screening recommendation. In their draft recommendations from November 2012, they did not recommend the practice. Although there remains a chance for the USPSTF to change this decision, we will not know of their final recommendations until later in 2013.
This think tank will review the goals set forth in the Action Plan, review the CDC baby-boomer HCV screening guidelines, and discuss current successes and challenges in the implementation of HCV testing and linkage to care. The think tank will provide an opportunity for experts to move the US towards a common goal of meeting the objectives set forth by the Action Plan, and test those at risk for HCV and getting them into primary medical care.