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Review
. 2025 Apr 8;12(4):ofaf211.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofaf211. eCollection 2025 Apr.

Approaches to Offering Hepatitis C Treatment at Syringe Services Programs in the United States: A Scoping Review

Theodore Yoder  1 , Kyoko Hirose  2 , Judith I Tsui  3 , Judith Feinberg  4 , Holly Hagan  5 , Mai T Pho  2 , Sarah E Rowan  1   6
Affiliations
Review

Approaches to Offering Hepatitis C Treatment at Syringe Services Programs in the United States: A Scoping Review

Theodore Yoder et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Innovative strategies are required to treat hepatitis C (HCV) among people who inject drugs (PWID). Integration of HCV treatment in syringe services programs (SSPs) may improve access, although multiple implementation challenges have been described.

Methods: We performed a scoping review of published models of HCV treatment integrated in SSPs in the United States.

Results: We found 13 articles including randomized controlled trials, observational studies, cohort analyses, and qualitative analyses that described a variety of approaches to integration that produced significant improvements in treatment initiation and cure compared with a referral-based standard of care. Variations in delivery models (mobile unit vs brick-and-mortar sites), provider location (on-site vs telehealth), pretreatment evaluation, pharmacy access, supportive services (eg, peer navigation) and funding were described.

Conclusions: Expansion of these models in the United States would not only contribute to HCV elimination but also create opportunities for the provision of other key healthcare services to this important population.

Keywords: harm reduction; hepatitis C; syringe service programs; telehealth.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flow diagram of the literature review. Abbreviations: HCV, hepatitis C virus; SSP, syringe service program.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Approaches to elements of HCV treatment in SSPs. Common treatment pathways among programs. Appointments varied from walk-in to scheduled. Abbreviations: Ab, antibody; HCV, hepatitis C virus; POC, point of care; SSP, syringe service program.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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