Multidisciplinary and Integrated Treatment for Substance Use Disorders and Hepatitis C in an Addiction Treatment Service in India.

The availability of relatively low-cost and safer DAA treatment for HCV and evidence-based SUD treatment services has made it possible to decentralize and integrate co-occurring SUD and HCV care even in the LMIC. This led to treatment denial, worsening of the clinical condition, and even death.[14] However, there has been a significant improvement in HCV treatment, and we have witnessed a paradigm shift from interferon-based treatment to direct-acting antivirals (DAA). Hepatitis C (HCV) and hepatitis B (HBV) are two major blood-borne viral infections that affect patients with intravenous drug use (IDU). Integration of treatment for SUD and HCV can help increase treatment access for the substance-using population.[9] Various approaches are used to integrate HCV treatment with SUD care services. [Extracted from the article]