Addressing the HepC epidemic in RI: Developing screening, treatment, education and prevention protocols for incarcerated populations

Hepatitis C Virus infection (HepC) is the most common blood-borne infection in the U.S., with a high prevalence among injection drug users. It has reached crisis proportions in RI, where reported HepC infections dwarfed HIV infections by 12-to-1 for the period 2000-2008. Untreated HepC infection can lead over time to advanced liver disease, liver failure, liver cancer, and death. The state faces a HepC epidemic that, if unaddressed, will lead to devastating public health and financial consequences for RI and its residents. It is estimated that 30-40% of the state's entire HepC-infected population passes through the state's correctional system annually, presenting a critical and unique opportunity for the state's screening, treatment, education and prevention (STEP) efforts in dealing with the HepC epidemic. The Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights at The Miriam Hospital and Brown University's Medical School is working now with the RI Department of Correction and RI Department of Health to develop state-of-the-art HepC STEP protocols for use within RI's correctional institutions. Presenters will 1) describe and analyze the dimensions of the HepC epidemic in RI, 2) demonstrate why the state's correctional institutions are critical arenas to combat the HepC epidemic, 3) explain the correctional HepC STEP protocols, 4) compare RI's correctional HepC protocols with protocols from other states, and 5) explain the projected impact of the protocols' implementation on the low income populations in the state that are hardest hit by the epidemic.