Barriers to hepatitis C diagnosis and treatment in the DAA era: Preliminary results of a community-based survey of primary care practitioners.

Abstract

Notwithstanding the groundbreaking achievement of hepatitis C curative treatment with direct-acting antiviral therapies, Canada faces an uphill battle in reaching the 2030 goal of viral elimination set forth by the World Health Organization, a goal made more difficult by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is limited understanding of the diagnostic and treatment barriers, and challenges in linkage to care in Canada, especially as it pertains to primary care providers in a community context. Therefore, in this article, the authors conducted a survey study to evaluate the following factors: primary care providers' knowledge of specialist treatment options and the importance of screening and treatment; and patient factors, including transportation, linguistic barriers, and other socio-economic status indicators that impact the screening and management of hepatitis C. The results suggest that public health campaigns that protocolize and/or incentivize screening and referrals may provide solutions to addressing such barriers.