News

On Thursday, May 7th 2026, CanHepC joined Action Hepatitis Canada, CanHepB, the HIV Legal and CATIE to mark the 5th annual Canadian Viral Hepatitis Elimination Day in Ottawa. 

Canada committed to the World Health Organization’s targets for viral hepatitis elimination, but we are falling behind. CanHepC co-director Dr Jordan Feld said in the press conference regarding Hepatitis C Elimination:  

''This is a marathon; it’s definitely not a sprint. Any runner will tell you that it is the last few miles or a marathon that are the hardest, but also the most important. We are here today to remind Canadians and particularly our governments at the federal, provincial, territorial and even the municipal levels that we have come a long way in this race, and it’s not time to slow down; it’s time to redouble our efforts. These last few miles will be the hardest of the race, but if we don’t stay committed, we will lose all the progress that we’ve made.'' 

September 30th is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: a day to honour the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, and their families and communities.  The Canadian Network on Hepatitis C (CanHepC) honours the strength, resilience, and lived experiences of Indigenous peoples. We recognize the enduring impacts of colonialism and the intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools and other systemic injustices.    

July 28, 2025 – World Hepatitis Day is a time to remember the 1.3 million lives lost annually to chronic viral hepatitis (B & C) and to call for urgent, coordinated, global action to eliminate viral hepatitis as a global public health threat by 2030. This is also a time to raise awareness about viral hepatitis, which causes inflammation of the liver and can lead to severe liver disease and liver cancer.  

This year’s theme, “Hepatitis: Let’s break it down,” is a call for action to dismantle the financial, social, and systemic barriers—including stigma—to hepatitis elimination. It’s also a call to break down misunderstandings about viral hepatitis, a preventable and curable disease that is often overlooked.  

New Report: Scaling Up Needle and Syringe Programs
Co-authored by CanHepC Investigators Drs. Guillaume Fontaine, Adelina Artenie and Jason Grebely, this report provides an evidence-based roadmap to strengthen harm reduction globally using implementation science.

Canadian Viral Hepatitis Elimination Day is marked each year on May 11th. On Thursday, May 8, 2025, CanHepC will join Action Hepatitis Canada, CanHepB, the Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver (CASL), and Liver Canada to mark the 4th annual Canadian Viral Hepatitis Elimination Day, this year in Toronto.

With the upcoming federal election, CanHepC, CASL, CanMASLD, CAHN and CanHepB sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Carney, federal party leaders Poilievre, Blanchet and Singh, and all other MPs, requesting they demonstrate their strong commitment to science and evidence-based public health decision making in their election campaigns. 

CanHepC held its Annual Meeting and 14^th Canadian Symposium on Hepatitis C Virus in Québec City on February 27^th and 28th, 2025.

The CanHepC Annual Meeting and Symposium are annual highlights for the network. Over two days, members and invited guests were engaged in discussions about the network's research, training program and future direction as well as hearing presentations about advances in HCV research, programs and practices. These events showcase the incredible strength of the network and its impact within Canada and globally. 

In partnership with CATIE and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), CanHepC is excited to share a new report highlighting key themes and recommendations that emerged from the Pan-Canadian Hepatitis C Elimination Meeting: Sharing Progress, Igniting Efforts. 

On August 20^th, 2024, the Ontario government announced their plan to ban supervised consumption sites within 200 meters of schools and child care centers.