On this World Hepatitis Day, NACCHO is pleased to launch its Hepatitis C Public Health Detailing Kit. Hepatitis C (HCV) presents a significant and growing challenge for our public health and healthcare systems. More than 3.5 million Americans are living with HCV, and the nation’s opioid epidemic is driving a surge in new infections, especially among young people who inject drugs. Many of those who are infected with HCV – over 50% – have not been tested and are unaware they are infected. Curative treatment can only be accessed if individuals are aware of their status, and effectively linked to care and treatment.

Local health department efforts are critical to increasing screening, diagnosis, and linkage to care; however, they cannot do it alone. Partnering with healthcare providers is vital, and public health detailing is an important strategy for increasing provider awareness and building provider capacity to address HCV. Public health detailing uses short in-person visits with providers to deliver key messages and essential information on treating and preventing diseases and conditions impacting local communities.

To support local health departments to conduct provider detailing for HCV, NACCHO developed a Hepatitis C Public Health Detailing Kit, now available to download. The Detailing Kit is a collection of tools and resources local health departments can use in implementing public health detailing as a strategy to increase healthcare provider awareness and uptake of effective practices for HCV screening, diagnosis, and linkage to care and treatment.

On this World Hepatitis Day, we encourage local health departments to take action toward the elimination of viral hepatitis. Access the Detailing Kit and other HCV resources, and contact Nicholas Parr, Senior Program Analyst on NACCHO’s HIV, STI, & Viral Hepatitis team, for more information.