Conference Program & Abstracts

Conference dates: 11 – 13 September 2019, Le Westin, Montréal, Canada.

The INHSU 2019 program gathered clinicians, researchers, and community practitioners working at the intersection of hepatitis care and substance use. Held over three conference days in Montréal, the meeting was organised around the premise that people who inject drugs and those living with substance use disorders are frequently excluded from mainstream liver services. The scientific program was assembled from a large pool of submitted abstracts, spanning oral presentations, poster sessions, and invited symposia across the full span of conference activity.

The oral presentation sessions covered the practical and scientific questions that shape hepatitis care in substance users: how treatment can be delivered within harm reduction settings, how stigma and discrimination affect engagement, how screening and linkage to care can be improved, and what evidence exists for outcomes in this population. Presenters were given the opportunity to share slides and recorded material, allowing delegates who could not attend in person to follow the scientific content of each session and to revisit the discussion afterwards.

Poster presentations formed a substantial part of the meeting, offering an accessible route into emerging work and allowing detailed one-to-one discussion with authors. Abstract listings were made available to delegates so that participants could plan their own routes through the sessions, identify topics of direct relevance to their services, and locate work from colleagues whose research is still developing. The emphasis throughout was on work that connects laboratory and epidemiological findings with frontline delivery.

Alongside the scientific content, the program included associated events that supported networking and collaboration. These ranged from industry-sponsored and affiliated symposia to invited speaker sessions and social gatherings, all intended to encourage the exchange of experience between disciplines and between countries with differing models of substance use treatment. Delegates also had access to travel, accommodation, and local information to help them make the most of their time in Montréal.

Looking back, the program page serves as a record of what was presented at the eighth International Conference on Hepatitis Care in Substance Users. Materials from the meeting, including abstracts, presentation slides, session recordings, and photographs, remain available for reference, along with conference materials and a digital toolkit for those working in the field. For anyone seeking current guidance, a dedicated knowledge resource for hepatitis care in substance users is signposted for further reading.