Reaching People Who Use Drugs to End HCV: Norah Terrault, MD, MPH

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Eliminating hepatitis C infections and preventing transmission was part of a pivotal conversation at IDWeek 2026, held October 21-24 in Washington, DC.

Established leaders focused on hepatitis C care and prevention addressed the current state of national and global elimination efforts and models aimed at prevention and care for people at high risk for the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The population carrying the burden of new hepatitis C infections has shifted from baby boomers to people who use drugs, Norah Terrault, MD, MPH, a professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, and a panelist at IDWeek, said in an interview with The American Journal of Managed Care^®.

Given that this is where new infections are concentrated, “an important goal is to really make more inroads in those communities and to offer them both diagnosis and immediate treatment, and that’s where prevention comes in,” Terrault said.

Treating those infected immediately and finding other strategies to reduce the risk of transmission within this population is pivotal to hepatitis C prevention. Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), which eliminate the virus and prevent person-to-person transmission, along with syringe exchange programs and substance use treatment programs, are all useful tools toward the ultimate goal of hepatitis C elimination, she said.

Furthermore, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), whose members see the consequences of untreated disease, such as cirrhosis and liver cancer, “remain very motivated and engaged to really support this elimination agenda,” Terrault said.

The AASLD continues to work with government agencies to expand access to treatment and remove barriers to diagnosis and treatment, and both organizations remain active legislatively, she said. The societies are also working to better partner with primary care, simplify care, and build capacity toward a national elimination plan.

However, research gaps remain, including the lack of a hepatitis C vaccine.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm about continuing to support that agenda and using our liver meeting and our ID meetings as platforms to highlight advances that are being made in terms of vaccine development, for example,” Terrault said.