Improving Hepatitis B and C Care Cascades; Focus on Increased Testing and Diagnosis

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During FYs 2017-2020, CDC will fund state and local health departments (HD) to work with external partners and stakeholders to: 1) conduct situational analyses (SAs) to describe a) jurisdiction-wide disease burden, epidemiologic trends, and laws/policies impacting testing, care, and treatment of HBV and HCV infection b) identify high prevalence areas, and c) settings where testing should be conducted, as recommended by CDC/USPSTF; 2) work with partners serving populations with greatest HBV and/or HCV prevalence to implement intervention(s) to a) increase HBV and/or HCV testing and detection, b) develop plan and materials to educate providers in partner settings about interventions, and c) monitor and evaluate interventions and their outcomes; 3) educate the public, partners and stakeholders on policies including state-mandated HBV and HCV reporting and public/private insurance reimbursement for recommended testing & treatment; 4) work with state agencies to improve HBV and HCV testing and treatment in all settings and integrate HBV and/or HCV testing in CDC supported HD programs; and, 5) monitor and evaluate policy impacts. The purpose of this FOA is to support the goals of the HHS Action plan for the prevention, care, and treatment of viral hepatitis by increasing the number of persons living with HBV and/or HCV infection that are tested for these infections and made aware of their infection status so as to facilitate linkage to recommended care and treatment services. Under FOA PS17-1702, awardees will work with partners to implement and evaluate interventions to improve viral hepatitis testing, detection, and linkage to care in areas with high prevalence of viral hepatitis, and to integrate evidence-based viral hepatitis prevention activities into existing public health, clinical care and community settings. To accomplish the FOA goals, awardees are expected to have staffing capacity to coordinate and/or conduct the situational analysis, intervention partnerships, and policies related activities and to achieve the objectives of the FOA. The project necessitates staff with training and/or professional experience in one or more of the following areas: health education; epidemiology and surveillance; program development and evaluation; community planning and assessment; data collection and analysis; and, communication skills.

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