Integrating HIV and HCV Testing Toolkit

Increasingly health departments (HDs) are seeking new strategies to improve the productivity and yield of HIV testing and linkage programs, expand availability of and access to testing for hepatitis C virus (HCV), and to optimize public health resources. In the context of the ongoing opioid epidemic and in serving high-risk communities including people who inject drugs (PWID) and gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM), the ability to detect both HIV and HCV is imperative for successful prevention and linkage to treatment efforts. Integration of HIV and HCV testing services, at multiple levels including partnering with public health laboratories, can help HDs achieve these aims. This toolkit and its associated slides will provide HDs with current information regarding HIV and HCV testing technologies, describe factors HDs should consider in determining when integration of testing is beneficial, and discuss how various testing technologies and strategies for using these technologies can facilitate integration.