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World Hepatitis Summit harnesses global momentum to eliminate viral hepatitis: WHO

Press releases may be edited for formatting or style | September 02, 2015
2 SEPTEMBER 2015 ¦ GLASGOW - Participants at the first-ever World Hepatitis Summit will urge countries to develop national programmes that can ultimately eliminate viral hepatitis as a problem of public health concern.

“We know how to prevent viral hepatitis, we have a safe and effective vaccine for hepatitis B, and we now have medicines that can cure people with hepatitis C and control hepatitis B infection,” said Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, Director of the WHO’s Global Hepatitis Programme. “Yet access to diagnosis and treatment is still lacking or inaccessible in many parts of the world. This summit is a wake-up call to build momentum to prevent, diagnose, treat - and eventually eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health problem.”

Around 400 million people are currently living with viral hepatitis, and the disease claims an estimated 1.45 million lives each year, making it one of the world’s leading causes of death. Hepatitis B and C together cause approximately 80% of all liver cancer deaths, yet most people living with chronic viral hepatitis are unaware of their infection.

The summit, co-sponsored by WHO and the World Hepatitis Alliance, and hosted in Glasgow by the Scottish Government this week, is the first high-level global meeting to focus specifically on hepatitis, attracting delegates from more than 60 countries. The aim is to help countries enhance action to prevent viral hepatitis infection and ensure that people who are infected are diagnosed and offered treatment.

Policymakers, patient groups, physicians and other key stakeholders attending the summit aim to issue a declaration underlining their belief that the elimination of viral hepatitis is possible and urging governments to work with WHO to define and agree on global targets for prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

WHO is launching a new manual for the development and assessment of national viral hepatitis plans at the summit. Policymakers and other key stakeholders at the 3-day meeting (2-4 September) are also discussing the draft WHO Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis, which sets targets for 2030. The targets include a 90% reduction in new cases of chronic hepatitis B and C, a 65% reduction in hepatitis B and C deaths, and treatment of 80% of eligible people with chronic hepatitis B and C infections.

The World Summit, which is intended to become an annual event, aims to focus attention on a public health approach to viral hepatitis and to be a central forum for countries to share their experience and best practices to drive rapid advances in national responses.

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