BLOCK HIV/HCV: 2nd Annual Massachusetts Opioid Conference 2018

St. Anthony Shrine, 100 Arch Street, Boston, MA |  September 17, 2018 | 7:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Approximately 25% of all individuals infected with HIV are coinfected with HCV. Of critical significance, HIV increases the rate of progression of HCV-related hepatic fibrosis, and HCV is associated with a 3-fold increase in HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART)–induced liver toxicity. Further, these synergistic diseases often occur within adverse socioeconomic conditions that significantly increase the vulnerability and decrease the overall health status of at-risk populations. Whereas HIV infection is now effectively manageable, chronic HCV infection is curable. Yet, despite new, highly effective direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment regimens for HCV, their broad-scale use and associated therapeutic successes remain stymied by barriers at the patient, clinician, health care system, and jurisdictional levels. The BLOCK HIV/HCV initiative will provide community-based infectious disease specialists and other HIV treaters with foundational information and practical resources needed to prepare local stakeholders—both clinical and nonclinical—to collaborate in efforts to eliminate HCV within their communities.

Robert Greenwald, Faculty Director, Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School will present during the morning session

• 9:15—9:45 a.m. Addressing Region-Specific Barriers and Challenges to HCV Elimination