Exploring the similarities and differences of hepatitis C treatment and opiate substitution treatment therapy in people who inject drugs to inform increasing access HCV treatment in this population.

Pharmacotherapy, when used with regard to substance dependence refers to the replacement of a person’s drug of choice with a legally prescribed and dispensed substitute. Known as opioid substation therapy (OST) in Victoria over 15,000 people are currently being dosed daily with methadone or suboxone for their heroin dependency. Hepatitis C is a major cause of liver-related diseases including cirrhosis, liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma globally. About 160,000 people Australians are currently living with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) with people who inject drugs (PWID) the group at greatest risk of HCV. Currently few PWID receive treatment but the advent of new direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment provides an opportunity for increased uptake of therapy which will have the duel benefit of curing the PWIDs HCV and also potentially reducing HCV transmission (through treatment as prevention (TasP)) leading to HCV elimination in Australia. Working with participants from the Treatment and Prevention (TAP) Study, a world first study of community based treatment for PWID and HCV elimination, this honours project will explore the PWIDs attitudes and understandings of the new DAA HCV treatment, the best mechanism to provide DAAs to the – separate to or with OST. The overall aim is to identify mechanism to increase PWIDs access to DAAs and compliance with DAA treatment so as to inform HCV elimination in Australia and globally.