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Abstract Details
Missed opportunities for hepatitis C testing in opioid treatment programs
Frimpong JA. Am J Public Health. 2013 Jun;103(6):1028-30. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.301129. Epub 2013 Apr 18.
Source
Jemima A. Frimpong is with the Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Abstract
HCV has surpassed HIV as a cause of death in the United States and is particularly prevalent among injection drug users. I examined the availability of on-site HCV testing in a nationally representative sample of opioid treatment programs. Nearly 68% of these programs had the staff required for HCV testing, but only 34% offered on-site testing. Availability of on-site testing increased only slightly with the proportion of injection drug users among clients. The limited HCV testing services in opioid treatment programs is a key challenge to reducing HCV in the US population.