Eliminating hepatitis C as a public health threat by 2030 is central to CanHepC's mission and is the main focus of our research agenda. We are also working with our national and regional partners to anchor our knowledge translation and exchange strategy around the hepatitis C elimination Blueprint and the Roadmap project.
Research to inform elimination of hepatitis C
CanHepC’s goal is to improve health outcomes for people living with hepatitis C at all stages of the cascade of care, closing the gap between knowledge and practices while training and building capacity in research.
An important part of our mission is to contribute to the global effort led by the World Health Organization to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by providing research evidence to inform the hepatitis C elimination agenda in Canada, and globally. Our research program is focused on measuring and optimising population-specific hepatitis C prevention, screening and diagnosis, and care and treatment strategies necessary to reach hepatitis C elimination. Our research also aims to monitor and track progress towards hepatitis C elimination goals.
National policy framework: the Blueprint
In 2019, CanHepC and several national partners, released the Blueprint to inform hepatitis C elimination efforts in Canada (Blueprint), a national policy framework that is intended to complement the Canadian government's five-year action plan on sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections.
The Blueprint lays-out World Health Organization elimination-aligned objectives with time-bound and measurable targets across prevention, testing and diagnosis, and care and treatment, as well as priority populations-focused recommendations. The Blueprint was developed through a consultative and inclusive process, drawing from expertise and research evidence within the CanHepC network and beyond, including engagement with researchers, community-based organizations with wide representation, people with lived and living experience and affected populations, clinicians, healthcare workers and others.
Regional progress: Roadmap project
In 2020-21, CanHepC launched the Hepatitis C Elimination Roadmap Project to continue to sustain efforts towards hepatitis C elimination since the release of the Blueprint. This project aims to develop regional roadmaps to hepatitis C elimination in addition to one national Indigenous-focused roadmap to hepatitis C elimination among Indigenous peoples (i.e. First Nations, Métis and Inuit).
The objectives of the roadmaps are to contextualize and adapt the Blueprint recommendations to specific regions in Canada, facilitate a multi-stakeholder consultative process to inform recommendations and actions to guide implementation of hepatitis C elimination plans at the provincial/regional level, and assess progress towards elimination.
