214.187 Statewide hepatitis C education, awareness, and information program

(1) The Department for Public Health shall develop a statewide education, awareness, and information program on hepatitis C. The hepatitis C education, awareness, and information program may be incorporated into other existing health education programs. The Department for Public Health may make available on its Internet Web site protocols, guidelines, and materials for hepatitis C education, awareness, and information programs that increase the understanding of the disease among general and high-risk populations

(3) by materials developed companies health-related (2) The hepatitis C education, awareness, and information program may include material to specifically address individuals who may be at high risk of infection, including but not limited to law enforcement officials, corrections personnel, prisoners, veterans, individuals who received blood transfusions prior to 1992, hemophiliacs, students, and minority communities. The program may utilize education and community-based or national advocacy organizations. The program may include but not be limited to counseling, patient support groups, and existing hotlines for consumers

In developing the hepatitis C education, awareness, and information program, the department shall consult the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, the University of Louisville School of Medicine, the Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine, the American Liver Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and any other scientific, medical, or advocacy organizations to develop the protocols and guidelines for the hepatitis C education, awareness, and information program. The protocols and guidelines may include but are not limited to the following: (a) The risk factors associated with hepatitis C acquisition and transmission; (b) The most recent scientific and medical information on hepatitis C prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, and therapeutic decision making; Tracking and reporting of acute cases of hepatitis C by public health officials; (c) (d) Protocols for public safety and health care workers who come in contact with hepatitis C patients; and (e) Surveillance programs to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C in ethnic and other high-risk populations

(4) The Department for Public Health may coordinate with the Department of Veterans' Affairs and the Department of Corrections to establish specific recommendations for the hepatitis C education, awareness, and information program. The protocols and guidelines established by the Department for Public Health, the Department of Corrections, and the Department of Veterans' Affairs may include topics specified in subsection (3) of this section and may include but are not limited to protocols within state agencies to enable departments to provide appropriate treatment for individuals with hepatitis C, protocols for the education of state agency officials and other employees who work with individuals with hepatitis C, and protocols within the Department of Corrections to provide written hepatitis C information to prisoners on the date of their probation, parole, or release

(5) The Department for Public Health shall make information on the hepatitis C education, awareness, and information program available upon request

Effective:June 29, 2017 History: Amended 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 80, sec. 44, effective June 29, 2017. -- Created 2006 Ky. Acts ch. 133, sec. 1, effective July 12, 2006