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Hepatitis

Know More Hepatitis

Public health agencies are leading prevention and awareness efforts to inform and improve the health of people with viral hepatitis or at-risk for viral hepatitis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has unveiled the national hepatitis C education campaign, "Know More Hepatitis," which offers an online assessment to gauge your risk of transmission and offers numerous publications to educate you about viral hepatitis.

 

For the Patient

Viral hepatitis is the leading cause of liver cancer and the most common reason for liver transplantation. An estimated 4.4 million Americans are living with chronic hepatitis; most do not know they are infected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers an online assessment to determine if you are at risk for viral hepatitis.

Treatment Locations

Hepatitis C is curable. Medications, called antivirals, can be used to treat and cure many people with chronic hepatitis C. A primary care physician can order an anti-HCV antibody blood test to determine if someone has come in contact with hepatitis C.

If you think you are infected with hepatitis C call your primary care physician and request a hepatitis C antibody test.

For more information on testing and treatment locations, visit the Alabama Coalition for Testing, Interventions, and Engagement in HCV Care (ACTIVE-C).

Federally Qualified Health Care and Community Health Care Facilities Providing Viral Hepatitis Services in Alabama

Additional Resources

Patient Support
Prison Information
Substance Abuse, HIV, and Hepatitis

Fact Sheets

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis C

Perinatal Hepatitis C

Special Populations

 

For the Provider

Reportable Hepatitides

Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E are all reportable diseases by the Alabama State Board of Health. All healthcare providers and clinical laboratories are required to report "diagnosed" cases and "suspected acute" cases to the State Epidemiology Department using the REPORT Notifiable Disease Card.

Alert: As of August 2018, all healthcare providers and clinical laboratories are required to report acute and chronic lab reports for hepatitis B and C.

Training Opportunities

  • American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) offers conferences, webinars, training programs, professional publications, and partnerships with government agencies and sister societies.
  • Clinical Education Initiative offers free, CE accredited, online and live trainings, conferences, intensive preceptorships, clinical technical assistance (TA) and tools, on HIV Primary Care and Prevention, Sexual Health, Hepatitis C treatment, and Drug User Health.
  • HealthHCV is an initiative of HealthHIV, a national non-profit. This initiative provides hepatitis C (HCV) advocacy, education, and training to improve the ability of organizations and providers to address the medical and consumer needs of people living with HCV through CE/CME curriculums, education, technical assistance, resources, conferences and research.
  • Optimizing Clinic Workflows in HCV to achieve HCV micro-elimination in Alabama. This activity is provided by PRIME Education and supported by an educational grant from AbbVie, Inc.
  • The Southeast AIDS Education & Training Center (SE AETC) provides a repository of online webinars and training material surrounding the topics of viral hepatitis B and C. Providers will also find helpful resources guides, toolkits, and case conferences.

Hepatitis Elimination

An estimated 2.3 million people in the U.S. are living with Hepatitis C infection. Approximately 30,700 people are living with Hepatitis C in Alabama. The Alabama Department of Public Health, along with key partners has undertaken a summarized report of the key outcomes of a hepatitis C disease burden model. This analysis was funded by a CDC cooperative agreement with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

National Action Plan

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has developed an updated National Viral Hepatitis Action Plan that outlines goals and strategies for a broad mix of stakeholders from the public and private sectors. The Plan is intended to guide organizations to strengthen a collective response toward Hepatitis B and C elimination.

Division of Viral Hepatitis (DVH) Strategic Plan

DVH’s 2025 Strategic Plan outlines goals, strategic approaches, objectives, and outcome measures for making measurable progress in reducing new viral hepatitis infections and viral hepatitis-associated illnesses, deaths, and disparities in the United States over the next five years. In developing 2025 outcome measures for this strategic plan, DVH was mindful of existing global goals to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, while also recognizing that new cases of viral hepatitis in the United States continue to rise. Progress towards 2030 goals require changing this trajectory; therefore, gains made between now and 2030 are not expected to be achieved linearly. Accordingly, DVH has established incremental yet robust outcome measures for 2025.

When and in Whom to Initiate HCV Therapy

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) offers recommendations regarding HCV therapy. Download the full study below.

Resources





Page last updated: February 23, 2024