Chronic hepatitis C elimination prison initiative: HCV‐intensive test and treat, a whole prisoner population HCV test‐and‐treat program in England

Abstract

Abstract Background and Aim Prison residents are at high risk for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. HCV test‐and‐treat initiatives within prisons provide an opportunity to engage with prison residents and achieve HCV micro‐elimination. The aim of the prison HCV‐intensive test and treat initiative was to screen over 95% of all prison residents for HCV infection within a defined number of days determined by the size of the prison population and to initiate treatment within 7−14 days of a positive HCV RNA diagnosis. Methods An HCV‐intensive test and treat toolkit was developed based on learnings from pilot HCV‐intensive test and treat events. From January 2020 to September 2021, 13 HCV‐intensive test and treat events took place at prisons in England selected based on high levels of reception blood‐borne virus testing and good access to peers from The Hepatitis C Trust. Results Among a total of 8487 residents, 8139 (95.9%) underwent testing for HCV. Across the 13 prisons included, HCV antibody and RNA prevalence was 8.2% and 1.5%, respectively. The treatment initiation rate among HCV RNA‐positive individuals (n = 124) was 79.0%. Conclusion The HCV‐intensive test and treat initiative presented here provides a feasible and rapid test‐and‐treat process to achieve HCV elimination within individual prisons. The HCV‐intensive test and treat toolkit can be adapted for rapid HCV testing and treatment events at other prisons in the United Kingdom and worldwide.

Keywords

• direct‐acting antiviral
• elimination
• hepatitis C
• prison
• test‐and‐treat