INDIANA – HepVu is an online platform that allows you to see data and insights on the viral hepatitis epidemic across the U.S.
HepVu makes data on viral hepatitis widely available, easily accessible, and relevant. HepVu aims to support best practices in public health decision-making.
Because HCV is a blood-borne virus, persons who inject drugs (PWID) are at very high risk of acquiring and transmitting the virus, owing to the lack of sterile injection equipment and subsequent sharing of syringes and other injection equipment. Globally, nearly 40% of persons who inject drugs are estimated to have current HCV infection. In the United States, it’s estimated that there are nearly 3.7 million adults who inject drugs. In 2023, most of the 69,000 estimated new HCV infections in the US occurred among persons who shared needles and other equipment to inject drugs.
In rural areas of the U.S., widespread poverty, stigmatizing attitudes and policies around drug use, and lack of access to health and social services—including ready access to sterile injection equipment, treatment for substance use disorders, and access to HCV care—all contribute to an environment that promotes HCV risk.
HepVu is a ‘Powered By AIDSVu’ project presented by the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in partnership with Gilead Sciences, Inc.
