26:2T-7 Hepatitis C education, prevention and screening program.

3. In consultation with the hepatitis C advisory board established pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2001, c.357 (C.26:2T-8), the Commissioner of Health shall establish a hepatitis C education, prevention, and screening program that includes, but is not limited to, measures directed to physicians and other health care workers, police officers, correctional officers, firefighters, emergency services personnel, employees of the State's developmental centers, and the general public. The program shall be established in accordance with accepted public health practice and recommendations of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Surgeon General of the United States, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the National Institutes of Health and the American Liver Foundation and within the limits of resources available for the purposes thereof.

a. For the purposes of this program, the commissioner shall develop and implement the following:

(1) public education and outreach to raise awareness of hepatitis C among persons at high risk for hepatitis C as described in section 2 of P.L.1998, c.116 (C.26:2T-2), which includes police officers, firefighters, persons employed by correctional facilities, emergency response personnel, and other high-risk groups, including, but not limited to, health care professionals and persons employed in primary care settings or health care facilities, which shall include, at a minimum, information on risk factors, the value of early detection and the options available for treating hepatitis C;

(2) measures to promote public awareness about the availability of hepatitis C screening, prevention and treatment services among persons at high risk for hepatitis C as determined by the commissioner based upon data provided by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Surgeon General of the United States, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the National Institutes of Health and the American Liver Foundation, and any other nationally recognized liver societies;

(3) educational activities for health care professionals in regard to the epidemiology, natural history, detection, and treatment of hepatitis C, which shall include information about coinfection with HCV and HIV and the implications of coinfection for HIV or AIDS treatment;

(4) educational and informational measures targeted at specific groups, including, but not limited to, activities designed to educate youth about the long-term consequences of infection with HCV;

(5) measures to prevent further transmission of HCV and to prevent onset of chronic liver disease caused by hepatitis C through outreach to detect and treat chronic HCV infection; and

(6) a collaborative effort with the Department of Corrections to develop screening services to identify inmates at risk for hepatitis C upon admission, and to provide education and counseling about treatment options to reduce the potential health risk to the community from these persons.

b. The commissioner shall evaluate existing hepatitis C support services in the community and assess the need for improving the quality and accessibility of these services.

c. The commissioner shall seek to establish public-private partnerships to promote outreach and increase awareness for the purposes of this act among employers, organized labor, health care providers, health insurers, and community-based organizations, and coalitions.

d. The commissioner shall take such actions as are reasonably necessary to ensure that the program established pursuant to this act provides clear, complete, and accurate hepatitis C education, information, and referral services in a multiculturally competent manner that is designed to provide appropriate linkages to health care services for persons in need thereof.

e. The commissioner shall seek to secure the use of such funds or other resources from private nonprofit or for-profit sources or the federal government to effectuate the purposes of this act as may be available therefor, which shall be used to supplement and shall not supplant State funds used to carry out the purposes of this act.

f. The commissioner shall seek, to the maximum extent practicable, to coordinate the activities of the program, as applicable, with services provided separately to specific populations, including, but not limited to, veterans of the United States armed forces, persons participating in private or public substance or alcohol use disorder treatment programs, and persons with HIV.

L.2001, c.357, s.3; amended 2012, c.17, s.310; 2017, c.131, s.98.