We have based our work on beliefs that:

• All people living with hepatitis C deserve access to the most effective HCV treatment.
• Everyone living with or at risk for hepatitis C should have equal access to prevention and care regardless of individual characteristics, including but not limited to race/ethnicity, insurance status, housing status, appearance, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, mental health status, and substance use.
• Our work is most effective when people who have lived experience with hepatitis C are involved in all aspects of planning and implementation.
• It is imperative to draw on the wisdom of service providers, activists, people who use drugs, and others in the community who have been most impacted and engaged in the fight against hepatitis C over many years.
• Housing is healthcare, and we must support housing advocacy efforts, while simultaneously working to employ creative strategies to treat people and prevent HCV in the absence of stable housing. 
• Everyone living with or at risk for HCV should have equal access to prevention and care regardless of individual characteristics, including but not limited to race/ethnicity, insurance status, housing status, appearance, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, mental health status, incarceration and substance use.

We are committed to working together to:

• Provide interventions that are evidence-based, and continuously review our progress to determine areas where we need to improve, through the regular collection of and use of local data related to hepatitis C.
• End stigma about hepatitis C and people living with hepatitis C.
• Maximize the health and wellness of people who use drugs by treating them with respect, ensuring access to appropriate services, and empowering them to reduce harm and make choices to improve their health.
• Continue to invest in populations that have frequently been characterized as “difficult to engage,” as we realize that these groups often have the greatest unmet need for services and support.

Our Community

End Hep C SF is guided by a Coordinating Committee and four topic-specific work groups that recommend action steps to the Coordinating Committee. The Work Groups are comprised of individuals affected by HCV, healthcare and social service providers, community advocates, health department representatives, and other stakeholders.

 

Our Coordinating Committee

The Coordinating Committee is comprised of people who have expertise around hepatitis C and share the vision of hepatitis C elimination. Members represent several organizations and practices in San Francisco that are at the forefront of hepatitis C testing, linkage, treatment, and advocacy.

Current members of the Coordinating Committee include:

Our 2020 Strategic Plan

As End Hep C SF prepared to enter our fifth year of existence, we spent much of 2019 discussing priorities and planning for the next three years of our initiative by developing our second strategic plan. Unlike with our first strategic plan launched in 2017, this time our initiative had already gathered much momentum, giving us a chance to take brave strides toward a better future while honoring the important commitments guiding our work to date.

Just as we put the finishing touches on this plan and prepared to release it to the world, the COVID-19 pandemic changed our lives in a way none of us saw coming. So many of us have continued on as essential workers, providing outreach, education, harm reduction services, and critical medical care while our friends, family, and neighbors shelter in place. A few months into the pandemic, we know more about the coronavirus gripping our city, but the uncertainty about its lasting impacts on our systems and economy has only grown. We remain true to the mission, vision, and values of End Hep C SF – indeed, despite COVID-19 people continue to be at risk for hepatitis C infection and continue to be in need of life-saving hepatitis C treatment – but the shape and sustainability of the services we provide post-COVID emergency response are still in flux.

The activities and strategies we will prioritize in the coming years within each of the End Hep C SF workgroups will need to evolve during and after our response to COVID-19. The most up-to-date strategic priorities can always be found on our website, at links available in this strategic plan. We must work together to eliminate hepatitis C the same way we must work together to eliminate COVID-19: grounded in science, with a constant eye toward improving equity, while maintaining unwavering respect for and leadership together with people most directly affected in our community.

Structure and Priorities – Our Work Groups

Under this new strategic plan, our initiative is expanding to include four areas of focus, with the following key initiatives for 2020-2022. Work groups are open to the public. We welcome anyone with lived experience with hepatitis C, people who work on hepatitis C-related issues professionally, and anyone who wants to learn more about hepatitis C. To learn more about the initiative or to get involved email us at [email protected]. You can also download our Vision Statement and Sign-On Sheet and email it to [email protected].

Community Research and Data Stewardship

The Community Research and Data Stewardship work group, previously known as the Research and Surveillance work group, is comprised of researchers and epidemiologists who work on studies and surveillance related to hepatitis C. This group is broaching the question of how to best combine resources and information to understand the hepatitis C burden in San Francisco and to measure the progress we make towards eliminating hepatitis C. This work group meets every third Monday of the month from 3:00-4:30 pm on Zoom.  All are welcome. 

Key Initiatives:

• Improve End Hep C SF’s ability to use data to drive our work, including setting benchmarks for our testing, treatment, and prevention strategies and projecting a realistic target date for HCV elimination in our city given those intervention benchmarks.
• Seek funds for research grants and administer Requests for Applications (RFAs) to answer key data questions.
• Consult with other End Hep C SF workgroups and the Coordinating Committee, providing technical assistance as needed to improve our ability to use evidence-based strategies.

Prevention, Testing, and Linkage

The Prevention, Testing, and Linkage work group is comprised of people who work for agencies that offer HCV prevention (syringe access and/or opiate replacement therapy) and/or community-based hepatitis C testing and linkage services. This group addresses the issues of preventing HCV transmission among folks at risk, as well as how to identify and support marginalized San Franciscans who are most at risk for hepatitis C, yet among the least likely to be connected to services. This work group meets the second Thursday of every month from 3:00-4:30 pm on Zoom. All are welcome. 

Key Initiatives:

• Increase mobile and venue-based testing for those who are highly impacted by HCV, including trans women, people who use drugs, African Americans, and people who are unhoused
• Work with the Treatment Access workgroup to expand options for HCV treatment in non-clinical spaces and rapidly link people with HCV to care, including in single residence occupancy hotels (SROs), shelters, and navigation centers
• Reduce HCV-related stigma via the development and launch of an antistigma campaign focused on providers.

Treatment Access

This work group is largely comprised of clinicians, pharmacists, and other direct service staff. This group focuses on initiatives to improve access to hepatitis C treatments for San Franciscans who receive care in both the public and private sectors. Another large focus of this group includes innovative treatment delivery mechanisms for patients in substance use treatment facilities, shelters, and occupancy hotels. The Treatment Access work group meets on the second Tuesday of every other month from 10:00-11:30 am on Zoom. All are welcome. 

Key Initiatives:

• Set realistic, data-driven targets for HCV treatment throughout San Francisco, to be examined and updated on a yearly basis
• Improve access to treatment for populations we have not yet adequately reached, including people who are pregnant, are in jail, have long-term stays in inpatient settings, who use drugs and/ or are engaged in opiate substitution, and who are unhoused or live in SROs
• Continue to develop creative delivery models, including new strategies created in partnership with mental health providers, private health centers, and organizations that serve African American and Latinx communities.

Policy and Advocacy

The Policy & Advocacy group was formed in late 2019 in order to strengthen collaboration, communications, and advocacy about HCV elimination in and beyond San Francisco. A relatively new group, we are still figuring out our structure and welcome any and all new members. This workgroup meets on the third Tuesday of every month from 1-2 pm via Zoom. All are welcome. 

Key Initiatives:

• Strengthen collaboration, communications, and advocacy about HCV elimination in and beyond San Francisco.
• Continue to advocate for improved viral hepatitis funding, data collection, and public reporting
• Advocate for policy and technological changes that will remove barriers to starting HCV treatment, including prior authorizations.

 

Executive Advisory Committee