Your reference for hepatitis C in Quebec
2026 Campaign: Our open letter was published in La Presse.
Nowadays, HCV can be treated and cured! Quebec must develop a national strategy and recognize the essential role of the community sector in the fight against this disease.
Follow the links below to read the article and the letter in their entirety:
Sarah Champoux « Lutte contre l’hépatite C : les tests rapides réclamés par des intervenants ». La Presse, 29 avril 2026. Lire l’article :
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/sante/2026-04-29/lutte-contre-l-hepatite-c/les-tests-rapides-reclames-par-des-intervenants.php
Laurence Mersilian. « Le dépistage en milieu communautaire : une évidence pour enrayer l’hépatite C ». La Presse, 29 avril 2026.
https://www.lapresse.ca/dialogue/opinions/2026-04-29/le-depistage-en-milieu-communautaire-une-evidence-pour-enrayer-l-hepatite-c.php
2025 Campaign: On this Quebec Hepatitis C Awareness Day, we’re using humor to raise awareness and mobilize the community.
Check out the memes created by our team below.
2024 Campaign: National Hepatitis C Awareness Day in Quebec!
On April 29,2024, Quebec’s National Hepatitis C Awareness Day, we are calling out the government for its glaring lack of leadership in the fight to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030.
Quebec is the province that has fallen furthest behind in meeting this goal, and no action plan is currently on the table.
Given the challenges of access to care and treatment, concern is growing. The 32 member organizations of the provincial hepatitis C committee are mobilizing to propose effective, realistic and sustainable solutions, inspired by documented practices and adapted to the needs of Quebecers.
2023 National Awareness Day Campaign
As we do every year, we wanted to use this day to raise awareness of hepatitis C in Quebec. So we created a poster about screening in collaboration with the members of our Provincial HCV Committee.
Copies of the poster were then distributed to members so they could display them in their respective regions.
The CAPAHC has posted them at stores in the Village of Montreal.
2022–2021 National Awareness Day Campaigns
In 2022 and 2021, this annual event took place at a pivotal moment in the pandemic and in the midst of a lockdown, so it was held on a smaller scale. We therefore marked this special day with several posts on social media and our website.
Copies of the poster were then distributed to members so they could display them in their respective regions.
The CAPAHC has posted them at stores in the Village of Montreal.
2020 National Awareness Day Campaign
To mark Quebec Hepatitis C Awareness Day, CAPAHC, in collaboration with the Provincial Hepatitis C Coordination Committee, is launching a joint awareness and advocacy message in 2017:
A continuum of care is the only way to eliminate hepatitis C in Quebec by 2030.
Concerned about preventing hepatitis C, support for people living with hepatitis C and access to treatment in all regions of Quebec, and considering:
- the WHO strategy on viral hepatitis adopted in May 2016
- the epidemiology of hepatitis C in Quebec, which has not declined since 2015
- Therapeutic Advances in the Treatment of Hepatitis C in Quebec
- the expansion of the criteria for reimbursement of treatment by the health insurance system
- that, because many people who inject drugs in Quebec are marginalized, the current health care infrastructure and services are not adapted to the realities of these populations
- that there are more than 25 community organizations working on hepatitis C in Quebec
- that there are already (underfunded) alternative service continuums that have proven effective
How come…
- that there are still many barriers to access to hepatitis C treatment for people who inject drugs?
- that some regions in Quebec do not have enough, or even any, resources dedicated to treating hepatitis C?
- Why is so little funding allocated to hepatitis C services?
- Why aren't the efforts of community organizations recognized within the current continuum of services?
- that the central government's guidelines centralize all HCV services within the CIUSSSs, despite the fact that these services reach very few of the people most affected
We must work together starting now to succeed by 2030!
2019 National Awareness Day Campaign
Canada ratified this strategy in 2016. In Quebec, according to the latest integrated report on STIs and STDs from the Institut national de santé publique du Québec, up to 75,000 people are estimated to be living with hepatitis C, representing nearly 1% of the population.
CAPAHC, which celebrated its 15th anniversary last year, is the first organization in Quebec dedicated specifically to hepatitis C prevention, education, and support, and has become a leading authority in the field. Thanks to our provincial representative, Manon Massé, we secured a motion in the National Assembly in 2015 to designate a national awareness day. Unfortunately, since then, very little has been done by the government to improve the situation. No coherent plan has been put in place.
With the Provincial Hepatitis C Coordination Committee, as a hepatitis C coalition comprising 28 Quebec-based community organizations working primarily in harm reduction, we continue to advocate for several community-driven demands and contribute to a number of key initiatives such as the a framework to guide efforts to eliminate hepatitis C in Canada with the CanHepC network and Montréal sans hépatites, led by Drs. Bruneau, Greenaway, Klein, and our director, Laurence Mersillian.
In this year, as we are all caught up in the fight against another pandemic—COVID-19—we are continuing our work while adapting our services to this new reality. We believe that the expertise of community organizations working in public and community health—particularly those focused on viral hepatitis—is more crucial than ever.
On this April 29, National Hepatitis C Awareness Day, let’s continue our efforts toward elimination by:
– Authorizing community health workers to perform capillary blood tests (OraQuick rapid test);
– Allowing clinical nurses to prescribe direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment through blanket prescriptions;
– Significantly speeding up the approval process for exceptional medications through the RAMQ’s new computerized application system.
2018 National Awareness Day Campaign
In Montreal, the screening will take place at the Capahc offices from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. A light lunch will be served.
Our partners on the provincial committee are participating alongside their elected officials and local media.
We would like to thank:
- Manon Massé, thanks to whom we were able to hold this event at the National Assembly,
- The CIUSSS du Centre-Sud, which assigns a nurse to us,
- Zone Franche, which is helping us promote the event,
- And any elected officials who are willing to get tested.
Please note that the screening will be open to the public, but the results will remain confidential to respect everyone's right to privacy.
2017 National Awareness Day Campaign
Pour la 2e Journée nationale de sensibilisation à l’hépatite C. une conférence de presse s’est tenue le 28 avril 2017, et diffusée en direct sur Facebook, a permis de rejoindre pas moins de 589 personnes.
Cette conférence visait à présenter les réalités et les enjeux autour de l’accès aux traitements VHC.
A video testimonial from Michael Houghton, the researcher who discovered the virus, was broadcast. Finally, like the other organizations on the Provincial Committee, a joint message was issued during their events held as part of this day, to encourage the various stakeholders involved in the fight against hepatitis C to work together to promote a true continuum of care and improved access.
2016 National Awareness Day Campaign
In 2016, CAPAC distributed 9,000 brochures throughout the year.
The national screening awareness campaign, meanwhile, was widely publicized with 1,500 posters displayed throughout Quebec!
