Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major public health problem causing substantial illness and death, including cirrhosis and liver cancer. Nationally, three out of four people living with HCV are persons born between 1945 and 1965, but most new infections occur because of injection drug use. In recent years, there has been an increase in HCV among young people who inject drugs (PWID). Many people with HCV are unaware they are infected. Yet, current highly effective direct acting antiviral therapies cure this disease with minimal side effects, making it possible to eliminate HCV.
In March 2018, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced his commitment to eliminate HCV as a public health problem in New York State (NYS) by increasing access to medication, expanding comprehensive HCV programs, and enhancing HCV treatment services for those at risk. Following the Governor’s announcement, a 28-member Hepatitis C Elimination Task Force was established to provide input to the NYS Department of Health (DOH) on the Hepatitis C Elimination plan.
The NYS Hepatitis C Elimination Task Force set forth a series of recommendations for eliminating HCV, including establishing a Dashboard to “track and report on HCV elimination plan progress.” By making state and local HCV data available to all stakeholders, the HCV Dashboard will track NYS’ progress towards HCV elimination.
HCV elimination targets in NYS are based on World Health Organization goals to achieve HCV elimination worldwide by 2030.
New York State Targets
New York State Metrics
Three primary metrics will be used to monitor progress towards elimination:
DIAGNOSES
The number of people newly diagnosed with HCV infection per year
TREATMENT
The number of persons diagnosed with HCV with laboratory evidence of treatment for, or spontaneous clearance of, HCV infection per year
NEW INFECTIONS
The rate and total number of new HCV infections among people who inject drugs per year
Learn more about how the Dashboard tracks progress towards HCV Elimination:
Timeline
NYS has been committed to addressing HCV for almost two decades. Throughout this time, State lawmakers, public health officials, clinicians, and community members have contributed to key program and policy advances related to HCV testing, HCV treatment access, prevention measures like syringe exchange programs, and removing barriers to care.
Recommendations
In 2018-2019, the NYS HCV Elimination Task Force developed 47 recommendations for NYS to incorporate into its plan to eliminate HCV by 2030.
These recommendations are organized into the following five categories:
HCV Prevention
HCV Testing and Linkage to Care
HCV Care and Treatment Access
Social Determinants of Health
Surveillance and Testing
The HCV Dashboard team is based at the Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. We work closely with leadership and staff at the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute and Division of Epidemiology, the University at Albany – School of Public Health and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on the planning, design, maintenance and evolution of the HCV Dashboard. Our diverse team includes individuals with extensive domestic and international experience working in the fields of epidemiology, dashboard systems, public health surveillance, epidemiologic data analysis and dissemination, geographic information systems, and public health informatics.
Benjamin Katz MPH, MIA
Project Manager, UX Design,
GIS Analyst
Sarah Kulkarni, MPH
Project Manager
Mindy Chang, DVM, MPH
Epidemiologist and Content Curator
Rebecca Zimba, MHS
Quality Assurance and Content Curator
Amanda Berry, MPH
Project Associate
Isabella Martin
Project Assistant
Kathy Mills
UX/Graphic Designer