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In the current context of hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV infection, the epidemiological situation of people who use drugs, and more particularly those who inject drugs (PWID), calls for innovative prevention and care interventions. The intervention known as AERLI (supervised educational intervention to reduce risks related to injection) was initiated as a response by community stakeholders to PWID needs and its effectiveness was evaluated in a community research project (ANRS-AERLI), which gathered researchers from the French National Institute for health and medical research, and stakeholders from two community associations (Médecin du Monde and Aides). This community-based intervention consists in doing face-to-face educational session, based on a standardized checklist of injecting practices, leading to a tailored response. This longitudinal intervention study, based on a comparison of PWID who received and did not receive the intervention, produced three main results: a reduction in HCV risk practices, a reduction in complications at the site of injection and an increase in the uptake of HCV testing. Due to its double effect on HCV prevention and care, the French health law was modified to scale up AERLI at community sites and AERLI was promoted in the last national guidelines (Dhumaux Report) for universal access to HCV treatment as a major tool to engage PWID in HCV care.