hepatitis C

The Damien Center a care and services center for those with HIV and the Health Foundation of Indianapolis created the Connect to Cure initiative to help provide supportive and preventative services for hepatitis C.

The health fair, which is part of the annual Indiana Black Expo, offered about $2,000 worth of health services for free to attendees, including eye exams, breast cancer screenings, and HIV and Hepatitis C rapid tests.

Wayne County commissioners voted unanimously last week to extend the program until July 1, 2021. The exchange began in August 2016 in an effort to reduce the spread of hepatitis C tied to heroin abuse.

This morning more than 70 volunteers worked to clean up two Near Eastside neighborhoods. The goal was to raise awareness about properly disposing syringes.

In 2016, Indiana had nearly 300 Hep C-related deaths. The virus can cause serious liver damage and failure.

The county's program provides clean syringes in exchange for used ones to reduce needle-sharing that can lead to the spread of disease.

The state must provide what are known as direct-acting antiviral medications by July 1. It's part of an agreement between the state and the ACLU recently approved by a federal judge.

A new study looked at whether or not early intervention would have changed the dynamics of the outbreak. Researchers hope it illustrates a valuable lesson for communities in the future.

Nearly 100,000 people are waiting for a kidney transplant in the U.S., but many will never get one. Instead they'll stay on dialysis for the rest of their lives. A team of doctors has found a possible solution, by infecting patients with a potentially fatal virus.

Needle exchange programs involve locations where people who inject drugs can receive clean, sterile syringes and other supplies necessary to safely inject and properly dispose of used syringes.