What is Hep Free AZ?

Hep Free AZ is a grassroots volunteer coalition supported by the Arizona Department of Health Services in partnership with Southwest Recovery Alliance and Arizona Liver Health. We are fighting to eliminate hepatitis C in Arizona through a community-centered, hands-on approach.

Our mission: To empower impacted people, raise awareness and increase equitable access to hep C prevention, diagnosis and curative treatment to eliminate hepatitis C.

Our vision: A hepatitis C free Arizona.

How can I get involved?

Are you passionate about ending hep C in Arizona? Do you want to advocate for your community and join the fight? We need you! 

Consider joining Hep Free AZ. You can get started by filling out a short Interest Form. 

We are led, guided and directed by people with lived experience. We welcome community members, impacted people, healthcare providers, public health professionals, and everyone ready to end hep C in Arizona. 

Okay, so I joined… Now what?

There are tons of ways you can get involved within Hep Free AZ! 

All-Member Meetings

The easiest way to be a part of Hep Free AZ is to attend our general coalition meetings. These meetings are held every other month and are open to everyone. At the general coalition meetings we share updates from state leadership and community-based organizations, discuss important issues and news related to hep C, and hear from guest speakers about relevant projects and topics. 

In 2024, All-Member Meetings will be held every ten weeks starting on Monday, March 11th. Participants may attend from 12:00pm – 1:15pm (REGISTRATION). The meeting dates are:

• Mar 11th, 2024
• May 20th, 2024
• Jul 29th, 2024
• Oct 7th, 2024
• Dec 16th, 2024

Newsletter

Hep Free AZ distributes a monthly newsletter with all the latest news, publications, webinars, conferences, job postings, and ways to get involved in the hep C world. The newsletter also has a “community stories corner” which spotlights one community member with lived experience each month.

Sign up for our newsletter here!

Subcommittees

We have three subcommittees: Advocacy, Marketing, & Data and one executive committee. Learn more about each subcommittee below.

• Outreach: This group creates marketing and educational materials for Hep Free AZ and its affiliated programs, manages the monthly newsletter and boosts outreach in the community.
• Advocacy: This group works with community members, local and state government representatives, and other parties to advance hep C-related initiatives.
• Data: This group works to identify community data needs, utilize new data sources, and collect, analyze, and disseminate hep C related information. This subcommittee currently meets on an ad hoc basis.

All of our subcommittees are accepting new members on a rolling basis. If you are interested, please email hepfreeaz@azdhs.gov with your name and which subcommittee you would like to join. Please note that subcommittee membership requires a minimum time commitment of 20 hours per quarter.

Executive: Hep Free AZ is led by an Executive Committee which is responsible for determining and carrying out the full scope of work for the organization, including setting meeting agendas and conducting HFA business between meetings. Members of the Executive Committee are nominated and must be approved by a vote.

Be a guest speaker! 

We are always looking for people and organizations to share about their experiences and work in the viral hepatitis world and/or any other related topics. If you are interested in being a guest speaker, please send us a message at hepfreeaz@azdhs.gov.

I want to learn more about hep C or share information with my clients.

There are lots of great free resources to learn more about Hep C. See here for a complete list of education materials for members of the public and providers. 

Click to view the Arizona Hepatitis Testing and Elimination Day Proclamation and the Hep C Elimination Plan Summary.

Hepatitis C Direct Acting Antiviral therapy Denial Reporting Form

This form reports denials from payers to cover or pharmacies to dispense Hepatitis C Direct Acting Antiviral Medications and solicit informationin case follow-up is needed. This form does not collect personal health information (PHI). Anyone filling out the form can choose to remain anonymous. Those filling out this form can list more than one Insurer, Pharmacy, or Patient Assistance Program. You can reach us at Hepfreeaz@azdhs.gov. You can access the DAA Denial Tracker here.