Community Pop‐Up Clinic: Cascade of Care and HCV Treatment of Vancouver's Inner‐City PWID Populations.

ABSTRACT Elimination of HCV infection as a public health concern by the end of this decade will require a concerted effort in all target populations, including drug‐users in the inner‐city. Several strategies have been proposed to identify, engage and provide HCV‐infected residents with antiviral therapy and maximise treatment and cure achievement. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary approach in delivering HCV treatment to people who inject drugs (PWID) within Vancouver's inner city. We have evaluated a novel approach, the Community Pop‐Up Clinic, for its ability to promote access to care and uptake of HCV therapy, with additional analyses of HCV reinfection and opioid‐related mortality. From January 2021 to August 2023, we evaluated 1968 individuals. 620 (31.5%) were found to carry HCV antibodies and of these, 474 (76.5%) were found to be viremic. Treatment engagement has been secured in 387 (81.6%). 326 (84.2%) have started treatment, 60 in the pre‐treatment phase and 1 died of an overdose in pre‐treatment. Of 326, 302 completed treatments, 18 are currently on treatment and 1 died of an overdose. Of 302 who completed treatment, 286 confirmed as cured (SVR 12), 16 are awaiting SVR 4, 2 had documented virologic relapse and 1 was reinfected. Three patients withdrew from treatment. By mITT, the cure rate is 286/288 (99.3%). We documented 2 overdose deaths over 326 PY. The data presented validates multidisciplinary programs such as ours aimed at treating HCV in inner‐cities and highlights societal benefits that could be achieved including lower overdose death rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]