Bunbury

Researchers are evaluating whether increasing the use of finger-stick point-of-care testing for hepatitis C virus HCV infection improves diagnosis and treatment rates. The study focuses on people at risk for HCV infection, recruited from various settings such as drug treatment clinics, needle and syringe programs, homelessness services, mental health services, prisons, and mobile outreach. This observational cohort study aims to address challenges in HCV elimination caused by reduced treatment uptake and barriers in current diagnostic pathways. Participants will attend a single visit to receive point-of-care HCV testing using finger-stick methods. Testing includes rapid HCV antibody tests, and if positive, further HCV RNA testing is performed to detect active infection. Those with detectable HCV RNA will be linked to standard care for further assessment and treatment outside the study. Participants will complete a self-administered survey during the visit. No treatment is provided as part of this study. During the study, researchers will measure how many participants with active HCV infection start treatment within 12 weeks after testing. They will also evaluate acceptance of testing, prevalence of active infection, treatment initiation timing, treatment completion, and virus clearance rates up to 52 weeks following testing. Data from surveys will be linked to administrative records to assess long-term health outcomes. Participation involves only one study visit for testing and survey completion.