Marion Delphina [email protected] ∙ Monica Fambroughb ∙ Jana Manningb ∙ Lindsey Hiebert-Suwondob ∙ Jessica Hicksc ∙ Philippa C Matthewsa,d,e
February 18, 2026 , The Lancet, Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are among the world's leading infectious threats, together responsible for over a million deaths each year, but these infections remain neglected by global funding.1,2 In 2025, the US Government revised its global health priorities and substantially reduced foreign aid commitments,3–5 including cuts to the US Agency for International Development and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, with estimated reductions totalling around US$60 billion.6,7 HIV infrastructure, built and maintained with this funding, has long provided resources that also support interventions for HBV and HCV, including harm reduction, screening, prophylaxis, treatment, clinic space, and staffing. Against this backdrop, reductions in global health funding risk destabilising these interconnected systems, with consequences for HBV and HCV elimination efforts worldwide.

To explore the early real-world consequences of funding reductions on hepatitis elimination efforts, the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination (CGHE), the World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA), and the Hepatitis Elimination Lab (Plan-B) team issued online surveys to researchers, health-care workers, public health practitioners, civil societies, community-based organisations, people living with HBV or HCV, and government and ministry of health representatives, including national hepatitis programme managers (appendix pp 2–30).8 Surveys were shared from March to October, 2025, through social media, emails, and conference presentations. Responses could be submitted anonymously.

These surveys gathered quantitative and qualitative input from 240 individuals and groups working internationally in hepatitis awareness, patient support, vaccination, testing, care, treatment, and research, allowing them to describe how changes in the global funding landscape have impacted their lives and work. In the Plan-B survey, 31% of respondents reported high impact and 37% possible impact of the funding cuts on clinical care, and 40% of respondents reported high impact and 40% possible impact on research. In responses to the CGHE survey, 40% of organisations and 62% of programme managers reported being affected, and half of respondents to the WHA survey indicated that hepatitis services in their country had already been impacted.

The reasons for these disruptions were broadly consistent: participants cited the collapse of the HIV service framework that previously supported viral hepatitis programmes, the direct loss of research funding, and remaining funds being redirected to other health priorities. Respondents highlighted severe staffing losses—among both clinical teams and ministry of health and public health personnel—which led to clinic closures and, alongside the withdrawal of US National Institutes of Health-funded grants, the cancellation of ongoing research studies.

TO CONTINUE: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langas/article/PIIS2468-1253(26)00014-2/fulltext​

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February 3, 2026 by Amy Lieberman-The Network For Public Health Law

Historically, there has been no way for people to know what, exactly, is in drugs bought outside of pharmacies. This lack of knowledge leads to increased risk of overdose and other negative outcomes. Contaminants including fentanyl are now present in the illicit drug supply throughout the United States, driving a more than 750 percent increase from 2015 to 2023 in non-methadone synthetic opioid-related overdose deaths. Other adulterants such as xylazine and medetomidine have also appeared in many areas of the country. Helping people determine what is in the drugs they intend to consume, often called “drug checking,” can be an impactful harm reduction intervention.
Drug checking research has shown that people often change their drug use when provided with information about what is in their drugs. Test strips, reagent tests, and more advanced equipment like FTIR machines or mass spectrometers are all used in comprehensive drug checking programs. While these methods vary in both comprehensiveness and expense, all provide information to a person about what is in the drugs they are considering using. 
State drug paraphernalia laws can limit access to drug checking initiatives by prohibiting possessing or distributing anything used for “testing” or “analyzing” drugs. Over the last few years, many states have modified these laws to remove barriers to some or all drug checking equipment. However, these laws typically only permit possession of the equipment used to perform drug checking, and do not explicitly provide protection from arrest and prosecution for possession of the drugs to be tested. Without these protections, the impact of drug checking on communities will not reach its full potential. As of January 2026, only three states--California, Vermont, and Massachusetts—have passed laws that permit both providers and clients to possess drugs to be checked, while Washington and Oregon provide protections for providers only.
California’s law is currently the most comprehensive of these laws. It permits the possession of injection or smoking equipment when obtaining drug checking services and provides a broad set of protections for staff of the drug checking program. Participants engaged in obtaining drug checking services are also immune from detention, arrest, prosecution, violation of parole, probation, or any form of community supervision, civil, disciplinary, or administrative action, forfeiture of property, or referral to ICE for possession of drugs. Further, the law forbids the collection of a participant’s personal information except when a provider is using the information to share results, after which it must be destroyed immediately and may not be shared with law enforcement.

​TO CONTINUE: //www.networkforphl.org/news-insights/state-laws-in-support-of-drug-checking-programs-can-help-reduce-overdose/?emci=48b19610-


Drug checking services have been shown to reduce the risk of overdose by providing people with information on what is in drugs bought outside of pharmacies. Many state drug paraphernalia laws have been changed to increase access to drug checking equipment but are still silent on the use of that equipment. Changing state law to explicitly authorize comprehensive drug checking services could allow this important public health intervention to make a greater impact in reducing overdose death and drug-related harm.
Drug checking



















Drug checking services have been shown to reduce the risk of overdose by providing people with information on what is in drugs bought outside of pharmacies. Many state drug paraphernalia laws have been changed to increase access to drug checking equipment but are still silent on the use of that equipment. Changing state law to explicitly authorize comprehensive drug checking services could allow this important public health intervention to make a greater impact in reducing overdose death and drug-related harm.
ces have been shown to reduce the risk of overdose by providing people with information on what is in drugs bought outside of pharmacies. Many state drug paraphernalia laws have been changed to increase access to drug checking equipment but are still silent on the use of that equipment. Changing state law to explicitly authorize comprehensive drug checking services could allow this important public health intervention to make a greater impact in reducing overdose death and drug-related harm.

Harm reduction experts applaud shift as safer, even as some officials reject pipe use
By Lev Facher, Feb. 12, 2026, STAT -Addiction ReporterROCHESTER, N.H. — Megan Merrill paused, mid-hike, as she surveyed the steep drop before her. She was standing on a five-foot snow drift, icy and brittle after 10 days of unrelenting New England cold, below which lay the railroad tracks that serve as a de facto border between the town behind her and the homeless encampment in front. 
She took the downward slope at a gallop, using her oversized backpack as a counterweight. The bag was made heavy with a stockpile of harm reduction supplies meant to help vulnerable drug users stay healthy and avoid disease, including sterile syringes, condoms, emergency blankets, and hand warmers.
The items Merrill was most eager to distribute, however, were glass pipes. Her reasoning was simple: Injection can lead to infections, diseases, skin abscesses, and potentially higher rates of fatal overdose. To Merrill and harm reduction workers like her, pipes are health care. 
“You’re going to see less vein damage, you’re not going to get abscesses on your arm or infections,” said Merrill, who works with a local community organization, SOS Recovery. “There’s less chance of you overdosing if you’re smoking than if you’re injecting. And infectious diseases: With injections, there are blood-borne illnesses, hepatitis C, HIV.” 
In the last decade, U.S. drug consumption behavior has shifted rapidly away from injecting and toward smoking. Once largely limited to the West Coast, a preference for smoking opioids has spread east since the Covid-19 pandemic, becoming especially pronounced in hard-hit cities like Philadelphia. 
TO CONTINUE READING:  ​https://www.statnews.com/2026/02/12/fentanyl-harm-reduction-smoking-not-injecting/?utm_campaign=rss

People with compromised liver function may be able to reduce their risk of liver cancer or slow its progression with a simple dietary change: eating less protein. A Rutgers-led study in Science Advances has found that low-protein diets slowed liver tumor growth and cancer death in mice, uncovering a mechanism by which a liver's impaired waste-handling machinery can inadvertently fuel cancer.

Liver cancer remains one of the deadliest primary cancers in the United States, with a five-year survival rate of about 22%. The American Cancer Society estimates there were 42,240 new cases in 2025 and 30,090 deaths.

The number of U.S. residents with compromised liver function who face elevated cancer risk is far larger. About one in four U.S. adults has fatty liver disease, a condition that—along with viral hepatitis and heavy alcohol use—can raise the risk of cirrhosis as well as cancer.

​TO CONTINUE READING: https://www.mdlinx.com/news/simple-dietary-change-may-slow-liver-cancer-in-at-risk-patients/5vt4nuXuSICYOz3hGsAbwv?utm_campaign=reg_daily-alert_20260204_daily-nl-am-v4_registered-users-a180_all&utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MorningDaily
People with compromised liver function may be able to reduce their risk of liver cancer or slow its progression with a simple dietary change: eating less protein. A Rutgers-led study in Science Advances has found that low-protein diets slowed liver tumor growth and cancer death in mice, uncovering a mechanism by which a liver's impaired waste-handling machinery can inadvertently fuel cancer.

Liver cancer remains one of the deadliest primary cancers in the United States, with a five-year survival rate of about 22%. The American Cancer Society estimates there were 42,240 new cases in 2025 and 30,090 deaths.

The number of U.S. residents with compromised liver function who face elevated cancer risk is far larger. About one in four U.S. adults has fatty liver disease, a condition that—along with viral hepatitis and heavy alcohol use—can raise the risk of cirrhosis as well as cancer.
People with compromised liver function may be able to reduce their risk of liver cancer or slow its progression with a simple dietary change: eating less protein. A Rutgers-led study in Science Advances has found that low-protein diets slowed liver tumor growth and cancer death in mice, uncovering a mechanism by which a liver's impaired waste-handling machinery can inadvertently fuel cancer.

Liver cancer remains one of the deadliest primary cancers in the United States, with a five-year survival rate of about 22%. The American Cancer Society estimates there were 42,240 new cases in 2025 and 30,090 deaths.

The number of U.S. residents with compromised liver function who face elevated cancer risk is far larger. About one in four U.S. adults has fatty liver disease, a condition that—along with viral hepatitis and heavy alcohol use—can raise the risk of cirrhosis as well as cancer.
People with compromised liver function may be able to reduce their risk of liver cancer or slow its progression with a simple dietary change: eating less protein. A Rutgers-led study in Science Advances has found that low-protein diets slowed liver tumor growth and cancer death in mice, uncovering a mechanism by which a liver's impaired waste-handling machinery can inadvertently fuel cancer.

Liver cancer remains one of the deadliest primary cancers in the United States, with a five-year survival rate of about 22%. The American Cancer Society estimates there were 42,240 new cases in 2025 and 30,090 deaths.

The number of U.S. residents with compromised liver function who face elevated cancer risk is far larger. About one in four U.S. adults has fatty liver disease, a condition that—along with viral hepatitis and heavy alcohol use—can raise the risk of cirrhosis as well as cancer.
People with compromised liver function may be able to reduce their risk of liver cancer or slow its progression with a simple dietary change: eating less protein. A Rutgers-led study in Science Advances has found that low-protein diets slowed liver tumor growth and cancer death in mice, uncovering a mechanism by which a liver's impaired waste-handling machinery can inadvertently fuel cancer.

Liver cancer remains one of the deadliest primary cancers in the United States, with a five-year survival rate of about 22%. The American Cancer Society estimates there were 42,240 new cases in 2025 and 30,090 deaths.

The number of U.S. residents with compromised liver function who face elevated cancer risk is far larger. About one in four U.S. adults has fatty liver disease, a condition that—along with viral hepatitis and heavy alcohol use—can raise the risk of cirrhosis as well as cancer.
TO CONTINUE:​ https://www.mdlinx.com/news/simple-dietary-change-may-slow-liver-cancer-in-at-risk-patients/5vt4nuXuSICYOz3hGsAbwv?utm_campaign=reg_daily-alert_20260204_daily-nl-am-v4_registered-users-a180_all&utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MorningDaily

​Published December 10, 2025 | Originally published on MedicalXpress Breaking News-and-Events
MDLinx

Scientists at Northwestern University have developed the fastest test yet for diagnosing hepatitis C virus (HCV). The highly accurate diagnostic delivers results to patients in just 15 minutes—up to 75% faster than other rapid HCV tests. This speed is crucial for kickstarting patients' treatment before they leave their appointment, potentially preventing painful, expensive complications and even death.

The research behind the new test was published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases in a paper titled "Development of a Rapid Automated Point-of-Care Test for Hepatitis C Viral RNA on the DASH(r) Rapid PCR System."

​HCV can lead to a chronic hepatitis C infection, which affects an estimated 50 million people globally and causes approximately 242,000 deaths annually, largely due to resulting cirrhosis and liver cancer. While the infection is curable with an eight to 12-week course of medication, treatment rates remain low partially due to lack of affordable and easily accessible diagnostic tests.

"We were able to develop a diagnostic test that can be performed at the point of care during a patient's clinical visit, which could enable same-day diagnosis and treatment in support of HCV elimination efforts," said Sally McFall, co-director of the Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies (CIGHT) at Northwestern University McCormick School of Engineering, who developed the test.

The test has demonstrated excellent analytical and clinical performance, McFall said. It also could play a critical role in the World Health Organization's ambitious goal to eliminate HCV by 2030.

TO CONTINUE: https://www.mdlinx.com/news/new-15-minute-hepatitis-c-test-paves-the-way-for-same-day-treatment/K7bxNFfoVZnMDQbaptOfy?show_order=5&utm_campaign=reg_evening-edition_20260111_daily-nl-pm-v4_registered-users-a180-alls&utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email

By MDLinx staff  Published December 11, 2025

Industry Buzz
Cirrhosis is a catabolic state, so patients are losing their muscle mass, and if they cut protein, they are further exaggerating loss of bone mineral density, putting them at risk for fractures--Ashwani K. Singal, MD, MS
The American College of Gastroenterology has issued its first stand-alone guideline on nutrition in patients with liver disease. [1]It's a long-overdue move, according to lead author Ashwani K. Singal, MD, MS, a transplant hepatologist at the University of Louisville. [2In a conversation with Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News, Dr. Singal laid out how clinicians should approach nutrition for patients with liver disease. [2]
The message is clear: Stop restricting protein.
Breaking the protein myth
For decades, patients with cirrhosis have been told to cut back on protein to avoid worsening encephalopathy. The new guideline directly confronts this misconception. [3]
Breaking the protein myth
For decades, patients with cirrhosis have been told to cut back on protein to avoid worsening encephalopathy. The new guideline directly confronts this misconception. [3]
"Cirrhosis is a catabolic state, so patients are losing their muscle mass, and if they cut protein, they are further exaggerating loss of bone mineral density, putting them at risk for fractures," Dr. Singal said. "In addition, muscle plays a big role in the elimination of ammonia. There’s a connection between nutritional state, muscle loss, and hepatic encephalopathy, as well as falls and fractures. This cycle can be broken by improving the patient’s nutritional status, by improving how they eat, how much they eat, and their protein intake." [2]

TO CONTINUE: https://www.mdlinx.com/article/new-guideline-from-american-college-of-gastroenterology-spotlights-a-common-diet-myth/7lHVWBJP730pF2hFRSOf


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Measuring HCV viral load at 4 weeks posttreatment predicts a cure as well as sustained virological response at 12 weeks.
​November 11, 2025 • By Liz Highleyman, POZ

Achieving a sustained virological response four weeks after completing hepatitis C treatment—known as SVR4—is highly predictive of a cure, according to study results presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) Liver Meeting. Confirming a cure earlier could be a practical approach for people who are at risk for loss to follow-up and could help determine sooner who might need another course of treatment.


Direct-acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C is highly effective, and more than 95% of people who complete treatment are cured. Successful treatment is defined as sustained virological response (SVR), or continued undetectable hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA. In the interferon era, sustained response was traditionally assessed at 24 weeks posttreatment (SVR24). But relapse that long after treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) is rare, so today a cure is typically assessed at 12 weeks (SVR12). Patients who still have detectable HCV RNA after treatment may have not responded adequately, may have relapsed or may have become reinfected.

​TO CONTINUE: https://www.poz.com/article/hepatitis-c-cure-can-assessed-4-weeks-treatment

By MDLinx staff - Published August 5, 2025

Liver cancer rates are projected to nearly double by 2050, according to a new editorial in The Lancet, published last week.[1]
In a recent Instagram Reel, gastroenterologist Supriya Rao, MD, discussed implications of the staggering statistic, what's driving the increase, and what doctors can do about it.

Most cases are preventable. As a gastroenterologist, I see how it happens.
—Gastroenterologist Supriya Rao, MD, @gutsygirl

Behind the upward trend
While startling, the trend is reversible, per the report—and Dr. Rao. “Most cases are preventable,” she said. “As a gastroenterologist, I see how it happens.”
According to Dr. Rao, there are four major culprits fueling the rise in liver cancer: metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and obesity; alcohol-related liver disease; hepatitis B and C; and poor diet (high in ultra-processed foods and added sugars, which accelerate fatty liver progression).
These risk factors often go undetected until irreversible liver damage has already occurred.

TO CONTINUE:Liver cancer cases will double by 2050—here’s how docs can stop it | MDLinx

Published September 22, 2025 | Originally published on ScienceDaily Top Science
MDLinx
​Excessive alcohol consumption can disrupt the liver's unique regenerative abilities by trapping cells in limbo between their functional and regenerative states, even after a patient stops drinking, researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and collaborators at Duke University and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago describe in a new study.

This in-between state is a result of inflammation disrupting how RNA is spliced during the protein-making process, the researchers found, providing scientists with new treatment pathways to explore for the deadly disease. The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

The liver has a remarkable ability to regenerate itself after damage or partial removal. However, it loses that ability in patients with alcohol-associated liver disease — the leading cause of liver-related mortality worldwide, resulting in roughly 3 million deaths annually.

"We knew that the liver stops functioning and stops regenerating in patients with alcohol-related hepatitis and cirrhosis, even when a patient has discontinued consuming alcohol, but we didn't know why," said U. of I. biochemistry professor Auinash Kalsotra, who co-led the study with Duke University School of Medicine professor Anna Mae Diehl. "The only real life-saving treatment option once a patient reaches the liver failure stage in those diseases is transplantation. But if we understood why these livers were failing, maybe we could intervene."

TO CONTINUE: ​https://www.mdlinx.com/news/why-alcohol-blocks-the-liver-from-healing-even-after-you-quit/5jMdPxoERSQHRsnoj8Dfcz?show_order=5&utm_campaign=reg_daily-alert_251004_daily-nl-am-v4_registered-users-a180_all&utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email

Offering HCV tests to everyone seen in emergency departments led to 34% more new diagnoses than traditional screening based on risk factors.  hep August 8, 2025 • By Sukanya Charuchandra

Screening all adults who visit emergency department for hepatitis C virus (HCV), regardless of their risk profile, uncovered significantly more cases than a more targeted approach, according to study findings published in JAMA. But despite improved detection, only about 1 in 10 newly diagnosed patients ultimately started treatment and achieved a functional cure, underscoring persistent gaps in follow-up care.
Over time, chronic hepatitis C can lead to serious liver complications, including cirrhosis and liver cancer. But the infection is often asymptomatic at early stages, and a majority of people are not aware they carry the virus. HCV screening has traditionally been based on risk factors, such as injection drug use. Direct-acting antiviral therapy, which has a cure rate above 90%, prevents both disease progression and onward transmission of the virus, but most people who could benefit from treatment are not getting it.

​TO CONTINUE: https://www.hepmag.com/article/universal-emergency-room-hepatitis-c-screening-finds-cases