Fast-Track Cities Urban HCV Elimination
Tokyo Workshop Report
The Fast-Track Cities Urban HCV Elimination Workshop, held in Tokyo, Japan, on March 28, 2026, examined Japan’s progress toward eliminating HCV and the challenges that remain as the country approaches the final stages of elimination. The workshop highlighted Japan’s strong national response – supported by sustained political commitment, substantial public financing, universal access to direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy, robust surveillance, and coordinated national and municipal policies – while recognizing that remaining infections are increasingly concentrated among populations facing social, structural, and behavioral barriers to care.
The workshop aimed to assess current progress, identify persistent gaps, and explore opportunities to strengthen urban HCV elimination efforts in Japan. Discussions focused on the evolving epidemiology of HCV; integration of HIV and HCV screening, prevention, treatment, and follow-up; correctional health; harm reduction; community engagement; stigma; and the social determinants that influence access to and continuity of care. Participants also reviewed international practices that could be adapted to Japan’s policy, healthcare, and correctional settings, while considering how city-to-city knowledge exchange can accelerate elimination globally.
Participants included representatives of Japan’s national and metropolitan governments, public health leaders, clinicians, academic researchers, correctional health experts, harm reduction practitioners, recovery-support providers, and civil society organizations. Their diverse perspectives connected national policy and financing with metropolitan implementation, clinical and epidemiological evidence, lived realities within marginalized communities, and international experience from Australia, Spain, Canada, Pakistan, and the United States. This multidisciplinary dialogue reinforced that HCV elimination is both a medical and social undertaking requiring coordinated action across government, healthcare, correctional systems, and communities.
The workshop recommended expanding HCV testing and treatment in correctional settings, together with harm reduction, addiction support, and coordinated post-release care; more closely integrating HIV and HCV services for populations experiencing overlapping risks; strengthening community-based outreach to reach people disconnected from conventional healthcare; and confronting stigma through public education, person-centered language, and inclusive policies. It also identified an important opportunity for Japan’s Ministries of Health and Justice to develop a framework and business case for expanded correctional HCV funding.
Click here to read the workshop report featuring findings, lessons, and recommendations.
DISCLOSURE: The Tokyo workshop was made possible through a sponsorship from AbbVie.
