In 2020, the San Francisco Department of Public Health suspected that undetected perinatal transmission of hepatitis C was occurring, based on local data. The health department decided to develop a plan to identify and prevent perinatal hepatitis C transmission and hired Facente Consulting to conduct a needs assessment to inform the new plan.
Facente Consulting reviewed models of perinatal HCV programming in Philadelphia, New York City, and Kentucky, and interviewed almost two dozen key stakeholders to inform recommendations for San Francisco’s unique context. Eleven formal recommendations were provided to the San Francisco Department of Public Health in the final report. Key areas of focus included: increasing community provider awareness around perinatal HCV, improving screening and care of pregnant people with HCV, increasing efforts to retroactively identify undiagnosed pediatric cases of HCV, identifying and treating people living with HCV who have the capacity to become pregnant, and encouraging studies of HCV treatment for pregnant people.