Gilead Canada Provides Grants to Combat Infections and Eliminate Chronic Hepatitis C in Canada
~ Ambitious HCV elimination programs looking to create a better future for people who inject or use drugs and the prison population ~
MISSISSAUGA, ON, July 26, 2021 /CNW/ - Gilead Sciences Canada, Inc. (Gilead Canada) today announced the 2021 CONNECT-C Grant Program recipients. With a goal to enable broad access to Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) medicines alongside supporting wider elimination efforts, this year's programs include screening and linkage to care for priority populations, including people who inject or use drugs (PWID, PWUD) and people with experience in the federal or provincial prison system. Established in 2017, the grant program is part of Gilead Canada's commitment to the World Health Organization (WHO) goal of eliminating chronic hepatitis C infection by 2030.
Omega Specialty Nurses (OSN) in partnership with the House of Sophrosyne and the Viral Hepatitis Care Network in Ontario is one of this year's grant recipients. The not-for-profit organization is working to treat HCV among women across Ontario in recovery for substance misuse, a difficult-to-reach population, many of whom are aware of their HCV status but have not initiated treatment.
"The opioid epidemic and gender power imbalance has led to unprecedented rates of HCV among women of childbearing potential. However, few programs exist to support women in connecting to HCV care on their terms," said Mia Biondi, Community Nurse Practitioner and Principal Investigator. "By co-localizing HCV care during holistic and trauma-informed drug treatment and recovery, we can improve women's understanding of HCV, offer testing, and directly link them to low-barrier treatment across Ontario by way of both in-person and virtual care."
In Canada, it is estimated that 250,000 Canadians are living with chronic HCV and thousands of new cases are diagnosed each year.i,ii Forty-four per cent of those infected are unaware of their HCV status;iii symptoms can take two weeks to six months to appear, and most people will not develop symptoms.iv If left untreated, HCV can progress over time to serious liver damage and is associated with a range of systemic health problems, decreased quality of life, and increased healthcare costs.v
"To eliminate the burden of HCV in Canada, we must fight it on every front by not only treating but also preventing reinfection," said Melissa Koomey, General Manager of Gilead Canada. "Elimination is now an achievable goal, but a key challenge is finding the people living with the virus and linking them to care. We are proud to support this year's grant recipients as they pioneer new programs to reach these extremely vulnerable Canadians."
The pandemic has also resulted in disruptions in access to treatment and harm reduction services and set back efforts to eliminate HCV.vi On July 28, 2021, World Hepatitis Day, the focus on Hepatitis Can't Wait will aim to raise urgent global attention that – with a person dying every 30 seconds from a hepatitis related illness – the world can't wait for the pandemic to end to act on viral hepatitis.vii By working together, the key partners involved in the HCV CONNECT-C Grant Programs offer new opportunities and innovative approaches for screening and linkage to care within these communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 ensuring the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities by continuing to focus on reducing HCV burden and preventing reinfection.
2021 Report Card on Hepatitis C in Canada
In 2016, Canada signed on to the WHO's global virus hepatitis strategy, committing to the goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.viii Although some progress has been made, major gaps in the cascade of care for HCV remain. According to the recently- released Action Hepatitis Canada's 2021 Report Card, which measures the provinces' progress toward elimination of viral hepatitis, only seven out of ten provinces are on track to meet Canada's viral hepatitis elimination goals.ix Unfortunately, two of Canada's largest provinces, Ontario and Quebec along with Manitoba, do not have an HCV elimination plan or strategy in place.x
Despite the high risk for, and rates of HCV among, members of priority populations, they are often excluded from mainstream health services. The highest incidence and prevalence of HCV is found among PWID in Canada: two-thirds have evidence of current or past HCV infection, and 85 per cent of new HCV infections occur among PWID.xi
"As a result of this grant, we will be able to expand from in-person HCV screening and treatment, to treating women across Ontario by leveraging existing virtual recovery programs already offered through the House of Sophrosyne, to a group of women we have not traditionally been able to reach," says Helen Lathouris, community outreach worker. "As an outreach worker who attended the House of Sophrosyne, I am grateful to be able to give back to the organization that helped to change my life. The benefits of the peer-led model include increased comfort and trust with clients and therefore higher rates of participation. When I share my story with the women, it also inspires them to want to participate in a peer-led model themselves."
2021 CONNECT-C Grant Recipients
Grant recipients were selected based on their ability to demonstrate a plan to deliver new local micro-elimination projects focused on targeted, integrated and locally-based initiatives, in high prevalence areas or settings that increase HCV prevention, screening, diagnosis and linkage to care. The list of 2021 recipients includes the following organizations:
Provincial Health Services Authority (Vancouver, BC)
Providence Health Care Research Institute (Vancouver, BC)
Vancouver Island Health Authority (Campbell River, BC)
Northern Health Authority – Northern Interior (Prince George, BC)
Project Echo (Calgary, AB)
Omega Specialty Nurses (Markham, ON)
Coopérative de solidarité SABSA (Quebec City, QC)
Agora Clinic (Montréal, QC)
Centre d'intervention et de prévention en toxicomanie de l'Outouais (CIPTO) (Gatineau, QC)
Elimination Within Canada's Reach
Micro-elimination is a concept that involves eliminating HCV within defined segments of the population in order to incrementally achieve national elimination. It is a pragmatic way to establish realistic elimination goals, allocate resources and support local expertise to tailor, deliver and scale up interventions. Segments of the population that can be targeted for micro-elimination can include people in certain settings, geographic areas, subpopulations and age cohorts, for example people in prisons, or people living with co-infections such as HIV.xii
About Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that has pursued and achieved breakthroughs in medicine for more than three decades, with the goal of creating a healthier world for all people. The company is committed to advancing innovative medicines to prevent and treat life-threatening diseases, including HIV, viral hepatitis and cancer. Gilead operates in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.
Gilead and the Gilead logo are registered trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies.
Learn more about Gilead at www.gilead.com, follow Gilead on Twitter (@GileadSciences) or call Gilead Public Affairs at 1-800-GILEAD-5 or 1-650-574-3000.
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i The Canadian Network on Hepatitis C Blueprint Writing Committee and Working Groups. Blueprint to inform hepatitis C elimination efforts in Canada. Montreal, QC: Available at: https://www.canhepc.ca/sites/default/files/media/documents/blueprint_hcv_2019_05.pdf. Accessed on: July 21, 2021. |
ii Public Health Agency of Canada. Report on Hepatitis B and C in Canada: 2017. Centre for Communicable Disease and Infection Control, Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada; 2019. Available at: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health/publications/diseases-conditions/report-hepatitis-b-c-canada-2017.html. Accessed on: July 21, 2021. |
iii CATIE. The epidemiology of hepatitis C in Canada. Available at: https://www.catie.ca/en/fact-sheets/epidemiology/epidemiology-hepatitis-c-canada. Accessed on: July 21, 2021. |
iv American Liver Foundation. Diagnosing Hepatitis C. Available at: https://liverfoundation.org/for-patients/about-the-liver/diseases-of-the-liver/hepatitis-c/diagnosing-hepatitis-c/ Accessed on: July 21, 2021. |
v The Canadian Network on Hepatitis C Blueprint Writing Committee and Working Groups. Blueprint to inform hepatitis C elimination efforts in Canada. Montreal, QC: Available at: https://www.canhepc.ca/sites/default/files/media/documents/blueprint_hcv_2019_05.pdf. Accessed on: July 21, 2021. |
vi Blach et al. Impact of COVID-19 on global HCV elimination efforts. J Hepatol. 2021 Jan; 74(1): 31–36. Available at: |
vii World Hepatitis Day 2021: Hepatitis Can't Wait. Available at: https://www.worldhepatitisday.org/#2021--theme:-hepatitis-can't-wait- Accessed on: July 21, 2021. |
viii Action Hepatitis Canada. Progress Report. Available at: https://www.actionhepatitiscanada.ca/progressreport.html Accessed on: July 21, 2021. |
ix Action Hepatitis Canada. Progress Report. Available at: https://www.actionhepatitiscanada.ca/progressreport.html Accessed on: July 21, 2021. |
x Action Hepatitis Canada. Progress Report. Available at: https://www.actionhepatitiscanada.ca/progressreport.html Accessed on: July 21, 2021. |
xi Action Hepatitis Canada. Progress Report. Available at: https://www.actionhepatitiscanada.ca/progressreport.html Accessed on: July 21, 2021. |
xii CATIE. Micro-elimination of hepatitis C: A pathway to achieve national elimination goals. Available at: https://www.catie.ca/en/pif/spring-2019/micro-elimination-hepatitis-c-pathway-achieve-national-elimination-goals. Accessed on: July 6, 2021. |
SOURCE Gilead Sciences Canada, Inc.
Darius Kuras, [email protected], (416) 427-6510
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