City of West Hollywood to Host Hepatitis C Community Forum

The City of West Hollywood will host a free community educational forum on hepatitis C in Los Angeles County. The forum will take place on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. in the City of West Hollywood Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. The forum will be preceded by a reception with a light dinner, courtesy of Gilead. Pre-registration is requested viaEventbrite. A limited number of parking spaces will be available in the adjacent 5-story West Hollywood Park parking garage and event attendees will receive a two-hour validation.

The Forum will also be available on WeHoTV. Broadcast will be in West Hollywood on Spectrum Channel 10; the Forum will be broadcast on the Citys WeHoTV YouTube channelwww.youtube.com/wehotvand on streaming platforms Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Roku by searching for WeHoTV using the search functions.

Hepatitis C is on the rise nationally and here in Los Angeles County we are seeing the highest number of newly infected people in California, said West Hollywood Mayor John M. Erickson . It is important that our community is aware of ways to avoid becoming infected, but also provide a forum to educate those who are at high risk of contracting the virus on the importance of getting tested and seeking treatment .

The Hepatitis C Community Educational Forum will feature a moderated panel discussion with physicians and public health policy experts, including:

• Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, MD, MPH, clinical professor of medicine, infectious diseases, and population and public health sciences and former CDC medical epidemiologist, and deputy health director for the City and County of San Francisco;

• Prabhu Gounder, MD, medical epidemiologist at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, overseeing surveillance and investigation of outbreaks of viral hepatitis, hospital-acquired infections, and respiratory illnesses, including influenza; And

• Brian Risley, MFA, director of HIV/Hepatitis C, HIV and Seniors and Women Together Health Programs at APLA Health, and co-chair of the Hepatitis C Task Force for Los Angeles County.

The panel discussion will be moderated by Hernn Molina, MPA, Government Affairs Liaison for the City of West Hollywood.

Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). If left untreated, HCV can lead to serious health complications, including liver cancer, cirrhosis and death. The virus is usually spread when a person comes into contact with the blood of an infected person. A large majority of people contract HCV by sharing needles, syringes or other equipment used to prepare and inject drugs. Although rare, hepatitis C can be spread through sexual intercourse, although HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) are at the highest risk of contracting HCV sexually, and MSM with PrEP are at high risk. About 10% of new reported HCV cases are among MSM.

Hepatitis C can be spread through tattooing or body piercing in unlicensed establishments, in informal settings, or with non-sterile equipment. Many people newly infected with HCV have no symptoms and do not know they are infected. About 20% of people newly infected with HCV can clear the virus within the first six months; However, the majority of people develop chronic hepatitis C, which is a lifelong infection that stays in the body.

HCV testing, the only way to know if the virus is present, is very important for groups at highest risk of infection. An antibody test will reveal whether a person has been infected with the hepatitis C virus recently or in the past. If the antibody test result is positive, another blood test is needed to find out if the infection remains active or if it is a previous infection that has cleared up on its own.

New cases of HCV are increasing nationwide, including in the state of California. From 1994 to 2018, 714,737 new chronic HCV cases were reported to the California Department of Public Health. In 2018, Los Angeles County had the highest number of newly reported chronic HCV cases among non-incarcerated people in the state of California. In the United States, 2.4 million people are currently living with HCV. In recent years, HCV has been associated with more deaths than HIV. Since there is no vaccine to prevent HCV, the only effective way to prevent infection is to avoid contact with infected blood, including sharing needles or syringes. There are new, highly effective direct-acting medications that have a cure rate of almost 100%.

A high percentage of people aware of their HCV+ status do not seek treatment. According to a September 21, 2022 report from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), only one in three HCV+ patients with insurance seek treatment in a timely manner, and patients covered by MediCal are 46% less likely to receive treatment, even though HCV medications are fully covered.

A recent survey of 533 cases in Los Angeles County's Service Planning Area 4, which includes West Hollywood, shows that 84% of patients knew their HCV+ status, but about 70% did not have access to a treatment. This panel hosted by the City of West Hollywood will seek answers to why people do not have access to treatment when highly effective medications are available; explore outreach activities conducted by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the state public health agency, and examine cities' best practices for increasing awareness of HCV, informing about treatments available and connect people infected with HCV to treatment.