Hepatitis C

This is an archived program. Grant funding has ended.

Approximately four million Americans are infected with hepatitis C (HCV) and eight to ten thousand of them die each year. The estimated cost of HCV is more than $600 million per year in medical and work-loss expenses.

NACCHO worked to help LPHAs and community-based organizations meet the Healthy People 2010 goal of preventing disease, disability, and death from infectious diseases.

Accomplishments include the following:

Resolution Concerning the Local Public Health Response to Hepatitis C No. 98-12 (passed by NACCHO’s Board of Directors);
Funding for LPHAs to convene and develop educational workshops on viral hepatitis prevention for health professionals in their communities;
Funding for LPHAs to integrate viral hepatitis prevention activities into existing HIV/STD program infrastructure; and
An analysis of an assessment survey regarding HIV and HCV informational and programmatic needs (completed and disseminated to 1,200 LPHAs). (For more information, see Hepatitis C/HIV Needs Assessment.)

The Hepatitis C Project began in 1997 as a cooperative agreement with NACCHO and the Hepatitis Branch of the Division of Viral Hepatitis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).