Key Objectives:
The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will highlight examples and lessons learned from the viral hepatitis epidemiologic profiles project piloted in three states and then expanded to eight additional states in phase II. Participants will be invited to consider questions of scalability and feasibility in their own jurisdictions, and to discuss opportunities for leveraging data from various sources to complement traditional surveillance, and share innovative approaches for using data to communicate about viral hepatitis.
Brief Summary:
Recent developments in viral hepatitis, including updates to testing and clinical guidelines, major advances in hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment, and increases in acute cases of HCV infection among young persons who inject drugs, make it timely to take action. Robust data are critical for health agencies to broker partnerships with other governmental agencies, providers, and communities to assure availability of hepatitis services along the treatment cascade from testing to cure. However, insufficient surveillance capacity often limits data for public health action. Health agencies can augment surveillance data and promote innovative uses of other data sources through the development of epidemiologic profiles. Modeled after the HIV/AIDS profiles created by CDC in the 1990s, these viral hepatitis profiles are an important tool in documenting, interpreting, and framing disease burden in local terms. To develop and use viral hepatitis epidemiologic profiles, ASTHO and CDC funded three states in the pilot phase and then expanded the project to eight states in phase II. The participating states 1) engaged critical stakeholders to identify data needs, review preliminary analyses, and evaluate utility; 2) identified data sources beyond traditional notifiable disease surveillance systems including hospital discharge data, vital records, and cancer registries; and 3) maximized dissemination opportunities by including profile data in an array of communication formats for use by decision makers. The pilot efforts concluded and the resulting profiles are being used to heighten awareness and inform decision making for policies (e.g., naloxone availability, Medicaid treatment coverage) and programs (e.g., HCV testing) at the state and local levels. The 2015-2016 phase II states are building on this success and exploring new, tailored approaches for their own jurisdictions.