Shifting the emphasis of hepatitis C (HCV) testing, from testing based on specific routes of transmission and risk to testing based on age, removes injection drug use from HCV discourse, according to a recent study. This has the potential to either facilitate HCV care for drug users or to further stigmatize and marginalize drug use and people who use drugs. Researchers used content and critical discourse analysis, informed by eco-social theory, to examine relevant documents. 15 documents were assessed for eligibility; 6 documents comprised the final set reviewed. They found:

• In content analysis, age-based testing was both mentioned more frequently and was supported more strongly than risk-based testing.
• Risk-based testing was frequently mentioned in terms minimizing its use and drug use was often mentioned only euphemistically.
• The reframed emphasis largely removed discussion of injection drug use from discussion of HCV risks.