New York State Department of Health Launches Public Campaign to Promote Expanded Hepatitis C Screenings for Pregnant People
Public Campaign Includes Print, Digital, Social Media, and Radio Ads
Aims to Increase Hepatitis C Screenings During Pregnancy
Commissioner McDonald Discussed New Screening Requirements Here
ALBANY, N.Y. (January 24, 2024) – The New York State Department of Health has launched a new public awareness campaign to promote New York's expanded hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening requirements and aims to reach pregnant people and their health care providers in particular.
"Hepatitis C is a serious liver disease, especially for pregnant people and their babies," State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said. "Testing during pregnancy is an important opportunity to identify future care needs. The expansion of the state's screening requirements, along with this public awareness campaign, is the right initiative to get more New Yorkers screened for hepatitis C, treated and cured."
The public campaign includes radio ads; digital and social media; ad boards in subways, buses, bus shelters, and physicians' offices; and educational print materials. The campaign aims to reach pregnant people and their health care providers to increase hepatitis C screening during pregnancy and to increase follow-up screenings of infants exposed to hepatitis C during pregnancy and childbirth.
In November, Commissioner McDonald discussed the new legislation that requires health care providers throughout New York State to order a hepatitis C screening test for all pregnant people during each pregnancy.
The expanded New York State hepatitis C testing law includes universal screenings of all adults and pregnant people and aligns with recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. The expanded testing law also includes hepatitis C screening among persons under the age of 18 with an identified risk, such as injection drug use, the primary driver of hepatitis C infection.
Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus. The virus is spread when the blood of an infected person enters the body of a person who is not infected. It can be passed by sharing needles when participating in drug use or from an occupational needle stick injury. Hepatitis C can also be passed from a pregnant person to their baby during pregnancy.
An estimated 40 percent of people living with hepatitis C are unaware they have it. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C. However, hepatitis C can be cured.
The Department has taken an aggressive approach to eliminating hepatitis C as a public health problem by 2030. In November 2021, New York State reaffirmed its commitment to addressing hepatitis C with the release of the New York State Hepatitis C Elimination Plan. The Plan outlines recommendations in five key areas that will lead the state to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030, including prevention; care and treatment access; testing and linkage to care; surveillance, data, and metrics; and social determinants of health.
On May 15, 2024, New York State will host the second Annual Hepatitis C Elimination Progress Report virtual meeting to share New York's progress toward reaching its elimination goals and spotlight promising practices from across the State. New York State and New York City will provide a review of the elimination metrics as well as programmatic, policy and other significant accomplishments.
More information on the meeting can be found here.
Information on HCV testing during pregnancy can be found here.
To find a nearby hepatitis C provider in New York State, visit the Department's provider directory here.
