Registration Now Open – National Academies Meeting on Integrating Infectious Disease Considerations with Response to the Opioid Epidemic

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies) will hold a one and a half day public meeting on the infectious disease consequences of the opioid epidemic on March 12th and 13th in Washington, D.C. Registration is now open to attend the meeting in person or online via webcast.

The opioid epidemic has led to alarming increases in a number of infectious diseases including hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV). New HCV infections nearly tripled between 2010 and 2015 and progress on hepatitis B prevention has stalled. After decades of decreases and several years of stable rates, new HBV infections grew by about 20 percent in the United States between 2014 and 2015.

To address this urgent issue, the National Academies is convening this expert meeting to explore how the opioid epidemic is changing the epidemiology of viral hepatitis, HIV, and other infectious diseases. Presenters will discuss the scope of the problem giving special attention to opportunities to reduce the infectious disease co-morbidities of injection drug use, especially those that can be implemented efficiently through the existing public health and medical systems. Speakers at the workshop will explore strategies that are effective in working with women and strategies that emphasize empathy, respect, and patient satisfaction. Discussion will include novel and existing strategies- both those that can be implemented using existing resources as well as those that would require additional resources.

For more information and to register for the workshop, please visit nationalacademies.org.

The workshop agenda and discussion would not be possible without the work of the planning committee:

• Carlos del Rio, MD, Chair, Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
• John Dreyzehner, MD, MPH, FACOEM, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Health
• Traci Green, Adjunct Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Brown University
• Van Ingram, Executive Director, Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy
• Philip Korthuis, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine Program Director, Addiction Medicine Fellowship Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics Department of Public Health/Preventive Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University
• Natasha Martin, DPhil, Associate Profession, Division of Global Health, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego
• Sandra Springer, Associate Professor of Medicine (AIDS) and Associate Clinical Professor of Nursing; Director, Infectious Disease Outpatient Clinic, Veterans Administration Healthcare Services, Newington, Yale School of Medicine
• Dace Svikis, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Obstetrics/Gynecology Virginia Commonwealth University

The project is funded collaboratively by the Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy (OHAIDP) and the Office on Women’s Health (OWH) in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.