From: David Sergeenko [mailto:dsergeenko@moh.gov.ge]
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2017 11:08 AM
To: Averhoff, Francisco (CDC/OID/NCHHSTP) <fma0@cdc.gov>
Cc: Gamkrelidze, Amiran (CDC ncdc.ge) <a.gamkrelidze@ncdc.ge>; Irinka Tskhomelidze <itskhomelidze@moh.gov.ge>; Morgan, Juliette (CDC/CGH/DGHP) <jtm7@cdc.gov>
Subject: Re: HCV Elimination in Georgia

Dear Dr. Sergeenko,

We wanted to follow-up with and congratulate you following very successful EASL meeting, Georgia is truly the Global Leader for HCV Elimination!  Now that Mr. Valeri has stepped down, we understand that you will assume the position of lead for the HCV Elimination Program personally, and Irina will continue as a liaison/POC.  We are of course honored to have you prioritize this program personally.  We would like to propose a call, perhaps in the next week, to go over how best to facilitate communications, the priorities for the program, and how to address challenges together.  We believe a call every two weeks (twice per month) would be a good idea.

For the first call, we will send a follow-up e-mail detailing our thoughts on next steps, some of the priorities, as identified in Amsterdam which should include: 1) enhancing screening and linkage to care; 2) Extension of services to harm reduction sites; and 3) introduction of simplified regimens, including the use of SOF/VEL (Epclusa) that will allow for removal of genotype testing.  Of course we also need to discuss implementing the additional recommendations from TAG 2016, and reporting back on progress at the TAG 2017 meeting in November this year.

Let us know if you agree, or any concerns, and we will plan a call in the next few weeks.  I think some of the key participants for our calls should include, from CDC, Juliette, Beth, Muazzam, Nancy, and me; but I include just Juliette here, in case you prefer more limited communications.    

Best, FA