Background and objective:
In recent years, an effective treatment for chronic Hepatitis C has been implemented. Therefore, screening programs to detect the Hepatitis C Virus were implemented, with the aim of treating chronic hepatitis C and reduce the incidence of this disease. Objective of this study is to analyze the results of a nine month period of HCV screening in a Local Health Authority located in Piedmont, Italy.

Methods:
The screening program involved all the residents within the territory of the Local Health Authority, including temporary resident migrants, born between 1969 and 1989, for a total of around 157,000 subjects, who were contacted through a letter, and invited to outpatient clinics. A catch-up strategy, involving all the healthcare professionals of the National Health Service, was also implemented, e.g. during routine vaccinations, routine blood tests, or outpatient visits. The screening was executed through a rapid capillary or venous blood sample test. In case of positive results, HCV RNA was searched to confirm the results.

Results:
Between 19th March 2022 and 10th December 2022, a total of 24,800 subjects were invited (mean age 43.5 yrs, standard deviation ±2.8). A total of 3,957 capillary blood sample tests and 333 venous blood sample tests were executed (17.3% of the invited subjects, mean age 44.9 yrs, standard deviation ±2.1). Seven subjects resulted HCV-positive, and four of them were confirmed positive through the HCV-RNA test (0.1% of the tests). All the positive subjects were referred to hepatologists.

Conclusions:
Hepatitis C screening is an effective method to detect and eradicate HCV. However, to achieve these goals, it is mandatory to improve the adhesion rate. General Practitioners should play a pivotal role in this regard. Promotional campaigns at a local, regional and national level addressed to the general population, and especially to high-risk subjects, should also be implemented.