What's HepCAPpening?

• World Hepatitis Day is on Sunday, July 28th! Read about the global burden of viral hepatitis and about campaigns to raise awareness and "find the missing millions."
• Free Narcan Days at Free Library branches for dates ranging from July to December: Health Department staff will be at branches of the Free Library to answer questions about Philadelphia's opioid epidemic, provide drug overdose training, and distribute Narcan. The next session will take place on Tuesday, July 30, from 1pm-4pm at the Northeast Regional - Free Library of Philadelphia. 
• The Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference is from July 25 to July 27: The largest free trans-specific conference in the world, the mission of PTWC is to educate and empower trans individuals on issues of health and well-being; educate and inform allies and health service providers; and facilitate networking, community-building, and systemic change.
• The annual Hep B United Summit, organized by the Hepatitis B Foundation, convened in Washington D.C. from Wednesday, July 24 through Thursday, July 25. The theme of the 2019 summit was Eliminating Hepatitis B: Local Change, Global Impact. National and local coalition partners, experts, stakeholders, and federal partners met to discuss how to increase hepatitis B testing and vaccination and improve access to care and treatment for individuals living with hepatitis B.
  • You can watch the breakout sessions on facebook live here!
  • Follow and participate in the conversation using #Hepbunite19
• Our Town Hall in North Philly took place on June 20th at the Philadelphia Recovery Community Center. 
  • **A full meeting summary and discussion takeaways for the Town Hall are online. Click here to read the run-down of our presentations and what we discussed.** 
  • Join the mailing list to be updated on the date of our next meeting, and look out for information about how to join the steering committee. 
• Follow us on Instagram and on Twitter to see more!
  • Our #HepCAPHepFACTS photo campaign features local HCV champions and allies highlighting what Philly needs to know about hepatitis C. Have an important HCV message you want us to spread or a Hep Hero to highlight? Reach out to hepcap.philly@gmail.com!

• Access to care 
  • Telemedicine takes focus in study of HCV treatment in New York methadone centers (Healio)
  • Hahnemann University Hospital is closing. Read the FAQ from Hahnemann here, detailing procedures for the timeline and next steps if you are a patient.  
    • Drexel University president announces job losses for clinical faculty, staff due to Hahnemann closure (Philadelphia Inquirer) 
    • Hahnemann announces timeline for shutdown; ER closes entirely Aug. 16 (Philadelphia Inquirer)
    • Closing Hahnemann could deprive some struggling neighborhoods of a key safety net (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  • Hepatitis A outbreak declared in Pennsylvania, with Philadelphia among hardest hit areas (Philadelphia Inquirer))
    • Use this map to find out the nearest pharmacy where you can receive a hepatitis A vaccine! (HepCAP.org)
• Harm reduction, drug use & overdose prevention  
  • Drug Policy Alliance Contributes to Extensive Amicus Brief Effort Supporting Attempt to Establish Supervised Consumption Site in Philadelphia (Drug Policy Alliance)
  • Philadelphia-area hospitals say the opioid crisis remains the region’s top health priority (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  • Philly’s injection site just picked up a ton of national support — but local opposition is also growing (Billy Penn)
  • Philadelphia supervised injection site plan gets backing from attorneys general in 7 states (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• State-level updates 
  • Almost 80 Percent of Heroin Users in Boston, Baltimore Would Visit Safe Consumption Sites (Filter.org)
  • Washington: CMS approves Washington plan for hepatitis C drug subscription deals (Modern Healthcare)
  • Louisiana's Experiment Paying For Hepatitis C Drugs: Lessons For Other States, Other Treatments? (Forbes)
• National updates 
  • **Providers! Help HealthHCV evaluate national provider needs and help shape a robust suite of education offerings on HCV prevention, care, and treatment.** Take the annual survey on the state of HCV care. 

• Register for the Southeastern PA Treatment Overdose Prevention Seminar, Hosted by the Pennsylvania Harm Reduction Coalition, Philadelphia Department of Public Health and Caron Treatment Centers, this seminar will equip treatment providers with the necessary skills & education to implement overdose prevention strategies within their addiction treatment programs. Find out more information, and register here!
• Register for the Fast Track Cities 2019 Conference, the first conference of more than 270 cities and municipalities that are accelerating their responses to HIV, tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis. The conference will take place in London September 8 - 11. It aims to highlight successes achieved across the Fast-Track Cities network, address cross-cutting challenges faced by local stakeholders, and share best practices in accelerating urban AIDS responses, inclusive of co-infectious diseases and comorbid conditions. Find out more informa6ion, and register here!
• Register for the 2019 PA Harm Reduction Conference, a 2-day statewide conference on October 28th and 29th in Harrisburg to discuss cutting edge research and evidence-based solutions to the overdose epidemic. Find out more info and register here!
  • HepCAP co-chair Dr. Trooskin will be speaking about HCV management for addiction providers, among many others! View the agenda and speakers here. 
• Want to contribute to national health research? The All of Us Research Program is an exciting initiative from the National Institutes of Health.  The goal is simple: to speed up health research and medical breakthroughs by building one of the largest health databases of its kind.  To do this, the PA research program is helping NIH meet their enrollment goal of one million participants. Find out more info and how to register here.

• The Rocky Road to Viral Hepatitis Eliminations: Assuring Access to Antiviral Therapy for ALL Coinfected Patients from Low- to High- Income Settings (Journal of the International AIDS Society) 
• Too Many People with Viral Hepatitis Are Diagnosed Late - With Dire Consequences (Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology)
• Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of persons who experienced spontaneous hepatitis C viral clearance (BMC Infectious Disease)
• Estimated Changes in Manufacturer and Health Care Organization Revenue Following List Price Reductions for Hepatitis C Treatments (JAMA)
• Scaling Up Hepatitis C Prevention and Treatment Interventions for Achieving Elimination in the United States: A Rural and Urban Comparison (American Journal of Epidemiology)
• A pilot study of safety and efficacy of HCV retreatment with sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir in patients with or without HIV - RESOLVE study (Journal of Hepatology) 
• Patient‐Reported Outcomes in Patients Chronic Viral Hepatitis without Cirrhosis: The Impact of Hepatitis B and C Viral Replication (Liver International)

• Training: The Health Department Staff will be at Northeast Regional - Free Library of Philadelphia on Tuesday, July 30, from 1pm - 4pm to answer questions about Philadelphia's opioid epidemic, provide drug overdose training, and distribute Narcan. Find out more information here.
• Training: Community Liver Alliance is offering a CME training on Treating Hepatitis C in Primary Care settings.
• Resource: Global State of Harm Reduction Briefing on Hepatitis C and People Who Use Drugs (pdf)
• Resource: Sharps disposal safety guide from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (pdf)
• Resource: Information on Philly's Summer Meal Hotline, which provides free meals to kids and teens 18 and under, is located in this pdf and at phillysummermeals.org-- call 1-855-252-MEAL or text FOOD to 877877 to find your nearest site. 
• Resource: Find out where you can get vaccinated for hepatitis A and B-- use this map to locate the most convenient pharmacy for you. (HepCAP.org)
• Resource: Changing the Narrative is a network of reporters, researchers, academics, and advocates concerned about the way  media represents drug use and addiction. Their Resources page contains information on stigmatizing language and narratives.
• Resource: End HepC SF put together SEX-C, a brochure of tips to understanding and preventing sexual transmission of HCV. (pdf)
• Webinars: HepCURE's Archived Webinars include presentations of Hepatitis C prior authorization, automated screening of hepatitis B & C in the ER, and an overview of Non-injection Drug Use and Hepatitis C.