Hit the Road, Hep C

The company behind the first rapid at-home HIV test has its sights on fighting another chronic condition that affects millions of Americans and poses an elevated risk for HIV-positive people: hepatitis C. Building on its reputation for creating OraQuick, the first at-home HIV test, OraSure is now distributing the only FDA-approved rapid test for hepatitis C, known as the OraQuick HCV Rapid Test.

OraSure has teamed up with drug manufacturer AbbVie to bring its HCV rapid test to pharmacies and clinics around the country — with a $75 million awareness campaign that focuses on reaching commercial truck drivers, who are five times more likely to have hepatitis C than other Americans. The companies partnered with the Healthy Truckers Association of America to create “Truckers Rolling Against Hepatitis C.”
The campaign kicked off at the Great American Trucking show in Dallas in August and extended to additional shows and some of the country’s most frequented truck stops. Testing events and promotions are also happening at clinics, retail pharmacies, and driving schools nationwide.