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Czas oglądania: 3 min
7 sierpnia 2025
ZDROWIE SPOŁECZNOŚCI I ZDROWIE GLOBALNE
Film
Kentucky Viral Hepatitis Treatment Project's Mission to Eradicate HCV
In the United States, hepatitis C infection rates are twice the national average. The Kentucky Viral Hepatitis Treatment Project (KeY Treat) aimed to eradicate hepatitis C in marginalized groups in small communities.
One of the ways in which the project was able to improve access to hepatitis C treatment was by utilizing point-of-care RNA testing in a clinical trial. Researchers saw that most of the programs the KeY treat study was modeled after—in Australia and Europe—were using point-of-care RNA. This allowed for same-day testing, same-day diagnosis, and getting the first doses of medications in hand that same day. Watch to learn more:
Transkrypt
Jennifer Havens Ph.D.
The ability to access treatment is currently hampered for a lot of the more marginalized groups. In a very small community that was really well characterized based on some of the research we had done, showing that there were high rates of hepatitis C transmission amongst people who inject drugs—mainly people who were injecting prescription opioids, at least initially.
So, if we are going to eliminate hepatitis C, that needs to be the group that is targeted for treatment.
In the community that we work in, there is no taxi, there is no Uber, there is no Lyft. Folks often don’t even have access to a personal automobile for use. So, it’s a major barrier to expect them to show up for multiple appointments—especially just to get diagnosed, which is currently the standard of care. Multiple appointments to even get diagnosed before they even start the treatment.
Oftentimes, technology—and laboratory technology in particular—is not readily available in some of our rural areas. So, tests need to be sent off, and that leads to results that don’t come back for days or weeks at a time.
One way we improved access to hepatitis C treatment was by utilizing point-of-care RNA testing in our clinical trial. We saw that most of the programs we modeled our program after—in Australia and Europe—were using point-of-care RNA testing. This allowed for same-day testing, same-day diagnosis, and getting the first doses of medications in hand that same day.
It is vitally important to reduce the number of times you need to see them face-to-face in the clinic, which is why these technologies were instrumental in helping us achieve great success in treating the most people and making them undetectable, so they are no longer transmitting the virus.
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