The Virginia Department of Health's [VDH]'s Adult Viral Hepatitis Prevention Coordinator is housed in the Division of Disease Prevention, and has been in continuous existence with a full-time Adult Viral Hepatitis Prevention Coordinator [AVHPC] since December, 2004. The AVHPC is responsible for initiating education and prevention programs to lessen the public health burden of all types of viral hepatitis throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. These programs include the following:

• A large-scale hepatitis B [Engerix-B®] vaccine program in all 130 VDH STD clinic sites available to those clients reporting one of 3 significant risks for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections: MSM, IDU, or multiple sex partners
• A hepatitis C virus [HCV] infection testing program in limited and designated STD clinic sites [including vaccination with Twinrix® vaccine] available to those clients reporting one of 5 significant risks for HCV: IDU, sex with an HCV-positive person, HIV-positive status, transfusion [regardless of date], and hemodialysis. This program also includes confirmatory viral PCR testing for all those who initially test EIA-positive for exposure to HCV.
• Answering queries by the public regarding all types of viral hepatitis
• Offering technical support to state and local health agencies, and offering such assistance to researchers and grant writers
• Designing and offering viral hepatitis trainings to physicians and nurses in public or private practice throughout Virginia
• Collaborating with state and federal agencies in an attempt to develop solutions to minimize the public health burden of all types of viral hepatitis.

One major hindrance to the HCV Coordinator Program is a lack of funding for surveillance. At present, there are 25,000 HCV lab reports from January 2005- April 2008 which have not been entered into any database format, including the CDC's National Electronic Disease Surveillance System. This precludes any kind of epidemiologic understanding of disease burden, shift, and prevention targeting [e.g., Geographic Information Systems, or any such methodology/technology]. Such understanding would significantly improve the ability to develop and utilize HCV prevention and testing outreach efforts.