Hi folks, grab a snack, kick back and read this week's collection of HCV news and research. We start with World Hepatitis Day and WHO's key message about viral hepatitis including their updated "Patent Status" on treatments for Hepatitis C. We finish up with news, a few newsletters, and finally wonderful articles written by our favorite bloggers.
World Hepatitis Alliance
On 28 July World Hepatitis Day (WHD) brings the world together to raise awareness of the huge burden of viral hepatitis and to influence real change in disease prevention and access to testing, treatment and care.
We have created World Hepatitis Day toolkits to help you plan for World Hepatitis Day. Learn how to reach more people with your campaign, get tips on running your own World Hepatitis Day event, and find out about the World Hepatitis 2016 campaign.
Ahead of World Hepatitis Day
“We need to act now to stop people from dying needlessly from hepatitis,” said Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, WHO's Director of the HIV/AIDS Department and Global Hepatitis Programme. “This requires a rapid acceleration of access to services and medicines for all people in need.”
WHO encourages countries to act now to reduce deaths from viral hepatitis
"The world has ignored hepatitis at its peril,” said Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General. “It is time to mobilize a global response to hepatitis on the scale similar to that generated to fight other communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.“
Around the world 400 million people are infected with hepatitis B and C, more than 10 times the number of people living with HIV. An estimated 1.45 million people died of the disease in 2013 – up from less than a million in 1990.
In May 2016, at the World Health Assembly, 194 governments adopted the first ever Global Health Sector Strategy on viral hepatitis and agreed to the first-ever global targets. The strategy includes a target to treat 8 million persons for hepatitis B or C by 2020. The longer term aim is to reduce new viral hepatitis infections by 90% and to reduce the number of deaths due to viral hepatitis by 65% by 2030 from 2016 figures.
The strategy is ambitious, but the tools to achieve the targets are already in hand. An effective vaccine and treatment for hepatitis B exists. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C but there has been dramatic progress on treatment for the disease in the past few years. The introduction of oral medicines, called direct-acting antivirals, has made it possible to potentially cure more than 90% of patients within 2-3 months. But in many countries, current policies, regulations and medicine prices put the cure out of most people’s reach.
“We need to act now to stop people from dying needlessly from hepatitis,” said Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, WHO's Director of the HIV/AIDS Department and Global Hepatitis Programme. “This requires a rapid acceleration of access to services and medicines for all people in need.”
Improving treatment
Some countries, however, are finding ways to get services to the people who need them. These efforts are made easier by the declining price of hepatitis C medicines. Prices are now dropping, particularly in countries that have access to generic drugs. In 2015, a preliminary analysis estimated that 300 000 people living in low- and middle-income countries had received hepatitis C treatment based on the new direct-acting antivirals.
In Egypt – a lower–middle-income country with one of the world’s highest prevalence rates of hepatitis C, 200 000 people were treated during the past 12 months, and the price of hepatitis C treatment for each person dropped from US$900 in 2014 to less than US$200 in 2016. Other countries have stepped up efforts against hepatitis C. Brazil and Pakistan are already expanding treatment coverage rapidly, and Georgia has announced a plan to eliminate the disease.
Preventing hepatitis
Hepatitis B and C infections are transmitted through contaminated blood as well as through contaminated needles and syringes in healthcare setting and among people who inject drugs.
The viruses can also be transmitted through unsafe sex and from an infected mother to her newborn child.
As of 2014, 184 countries vaccinate infants against hepatitis B as part of their vaccination schedules and 82% of children in these states received the hepatitis B vaccine. This is a major increase compared with 31 countries in 1992, the year that the World Health Assembly passed a resolution to recommend global vaccination against hepatitis B.
In addition, implementing blood safety strategies, including quality-assured screening of all donated blood and blood components used for transfusion, can help prevent transmission of hepatitis B and C. Safe injection practices, eliminating unnecessary and unsafe injections, can be effective strategies to protect against transmission. Harm reduction services for people who inject drugs are critical to reduce hepatitis in this population. Safer sex practices, including minimizing the number of partners and using barrier protective measures (condoms), also protect against transmission.
On World Hepatitis Day 2016, WHO, World Hepatitis Alliance, and the Government of Brazil announce the organization of the Second World Hepatitis Summit to take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 29-31 March 2017.
World Hepatitis Summit
For more information
World Hepatitis Day 2016: Know hepatitis - Act now
Guidelines for the screening, care and treatment of persons with chronic hepatitis C infection
Manual for the development and assessment of national viral hepatitis plans
Patent Status
WHO updates patent information on treatments for Hepatitis C
New medicines on the market have given hope to the millions of people who suffer from Hepatitis C, a liver disease that kills approximately 700,000 people annually.
In 2016, the World Health Assembly, WHO's policy-making body, endorsed the Global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis 2016-2021 that requests WHO to “advocate for comprehensive strategies to reduce prices of viral hepatitis vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and other commodities”.
WHO works closely with Member States to assess and promote policy options for increasing access to these medicines, which remain unaffordable to many of those who need them and put an enormous financial strain even on the health systems of high-income countries.
Knowledge of the patent status of new medicines is important for governments who are trying to make those medicines available to their populations. To that end, WHO has carried out an analysis of the patent situation for seven of the new treatments, including sofosbuvir, ledipasvir and daclatasvir, all of which have been included in the WHO List of Essential Medicines in 2015.
The reports provide clarity on whether the medicines are patent protected or not in individual countries. Reports are available on the WHO website here.
WORLD HEPATITIS DAY
We have created World Hepatitis Day toolkits to help you plan for World Hepatitis Day. Learn how to reach more people with your campaign, get tips on running your own World Hepatitis Day event, and find out about the World Hepatitis 2016 campaign.
Ahead of World Hepatitis Day
“We need to act now to stop people from dying needlessly from hepatitis,” said Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, WHO's Director of the HIV/AIDS Department and Global Hepatitis Programme. “This requires a rapid acceleration of access to services and medicines for all people in need.”
WHO encourages countries to act now to reduce deaths from viral hepatitis
"The world has ignored hepatitis at its peril,” said Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General. “It is time to mobilize a global response to hepatitis on the scale similar to that generated to fight other communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.“
Around the world 400 million people are infected with hepatitis B and C, more than 10 times the number of people living with HIV. An estimated 1.45 million people died of the disease in 2013 – up from less than a million in 1990.
In May 2016, at the World Health Assembly, 194 governments adopted the first ever Global Health Sector Strategy on viral hepatitis and agreed to the first-ever global targets. The strategy includes a target to treat 8 million persons for hepatitis B or C by 2020. The longer term aim is to reduce new viral hepatitis infections by 90% and to reduce the number of deaths due to viral hepatitis by 65% by 2030 from 2016 figures.
The strategy is ambitious, but the tools to achieve the targets are already in hand. An effective vaccine and treatment for hepatitis B exists. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C but there has been dramatic progress on treatment for the disease in the past few years. The introduction of oral medicines, called direct-acting antivirals, has made it possible to potentially cure more than 90% of patients within 2-3 months. But in many countries, current policies, regulations and medicine prices put the cure out of most people’s reach.
“We need to act now to stop people from dying needlessly from hepatitis,” said Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, WHO's Director of the HIV/AIDS Department and Global Hepatitis Programme. “This requires a rapid acceleration of access to services and medicines for all people in need.”
Improving treatment
Some countries, however, are finding ways to get services to the people who need them. These efforts are made easier by the declining price of hepatitis C medicines. Prices are now dropping, particularly in countries that have access to generic drugs. In 2015, a preliminary analysis estimated that 300 000 people living in low- and middle-income countries had received hepatitis C treatment based on the new direct-acting antivirals.
In Egypt – a lower–middle-income country with one of the world’s highest prevalence rates of hepatitis C, 200 000 people were treated during the past 12 months, and the price of hepatitis C treatment for each person dropped from US$900 in 2014 to less than US$200 in 2016. Other countries have stepped up efforts against hepatitis C. Brazil and Pakistan are already expanding treatment coverage rapidly, and Georgia has announced a plan to eliminate the disease.
Preventing hepatitis
Hepatitis B and C infections are transmitted through contaminated blood as well as through contaminated needles and syringes in healthcare setting and among people who inject drugs.
The viruses can also be transmitted through unsafe sex and from an infected mother to her newborn child.
As of 2014, 184 countries vaccinate infants against hepatitis B as part of their vaccination schedules and 82% of children in these states received the hepatitis B vaccine. This is a major increase compared with 31 countries in 1992, the year that the World Health Assembly passed a resolution to recommend global vaccination against hepatitis B.
In addition, implementing blood safety strategies, including quality-assured screening of all donated blood and blood components used for transfusion, can help prevent transmission of hepatitis B and C. Safe injection practices, eliminating unnecessary and unsafe injections, can be effective strategies to protect against transmission. Harm reduction services for people who inject drugs are critical to reduce hepatitis in this population. Safer sex practices, including minimizing the number of partners and using barrier protective measures (condoms), also protect against transmission.
On World Hepatitis Day 2016, WHO, World Hepatitis Alliance, and the Government of Brazil announce the organization of the Second World Hepatitis Summit to take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 29-31 March 2017.
World Hepatitis Summit
For more information
World Hepatitis Day 2016: Know hepatitis - Act now
Guidelines for the screening, care and treatment of persons with chronic hepatitis C infection
Manual for the development and assessment of national viral hepatitis plans
Patent Status
WHO updates patent information on treatments for Hepatitis C
New medicines on the market have given hope to the millions of people who suffer from Hepatitis C, a liver disease that kills approximately 700,000 people annually.
In 2016, the World Health Assembly, WHO's policy-making body, endorsed the Global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis 2016-2021 that requests WHO to “advocate for comprehensive strategies to reduce prices of viral hepatitis vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and other commodities”.
WHO works closely with Member States to assess and promote policy options for increasing access to these medicines, which remain unaffordable to many of those who need them and put an enormous financial strain even on the health systems of high-income countries.
Knowledge of the patent status of new medicines is important for governments who are trying to make those medicines available to their populations. To that end, WHO has carried out an analysis of the patent situation for seven of the new treatments, including sofosbuvir, ledipasvir and daclatasvir, all of which have been included in the WHO List of Essential Medicines in 2015.
The reports provide clarity on whether the medicines are patent protected or not in individual countries. Reports are available on the WHO website here.
Updates From Around The Web
Yesterday The Treatment Action Group (TAG) published their 2016 Pipeline Report; HIV and TB Drugs, Diagnostics, Vaccines, Preventive Technologies, Research Toward a Cure, and Immune-Based and Gene Therapies in Development, along with a 2016 Hepatitis C Update. In April TAG updated their Hepatitis C fact sheets in both English and Spanish with information for patients covering; adherence, screening, and treatment.
Newsletters
In case you missed it HCV Advocate's July Newsletter is out, as well as their newly launched; HCV Medications Blog with easy to find information; listed clearly by HCV genotype. Easy to navigate, easy to read.
This month in the GI & Hepatology Newsletter, Amy Karon reports on SVR in persons with cirrhosis. The article titled; Early hepatitis C SVRs tied to better outcomes, found that SVR in this patient population is associated with lower rates of liver cancer and death, Karon writes;
Among patients with hepatitis C virus infection who were in compensated cirrhosis, sustained viral response was associated with significantly lower rates of liver decompensation, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver-related death, even in the presence of clinically meaningful portal hypertension.
If you suffer with Functional Dyspepsia (FD) check out the article; Mirtazapine improved functional dyspepsia, mental distress, also found in the July issue of GI & Hepatology Newsletter.
In short Functional Dyspepsia (FD) is a medical term which simply means - bad digestion, symptoms vary but are frequently described as a full or bloated feeling after eating. A study in BMC Gastroenterology published this March investigated the prevalence of functional dyspepsia (FD) among patients with hepatitis C, the study found that; FD is more prevalent in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Obese chronic HCV and those with higher fibrosis scores are more likely to have FD, here is the link.
In The News
New Poll - 64 Percent of Global Doctors Believe New Hepatitis C Drugs Are Worth the Cost
In advance of World Hepatitis Day on July 28, 2016, SERMO – the leading global social network exclusively for physicians – released new poll data that queried physicians on the costs of new hepatitis C cures.
TheBody.com
Hepatitis C Treatment Epclusa Approved in Canada -- Key Information
On July 11, 2016, Health Canada licensed the sale and use of a new fixed-dose combination of two anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) drugs sold under the brand ...
New @ Healio
NAFLD most common cause of cirrhosis in multiethnic cohort
According to recent findings published in Hepatology, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease was the most common cause of cirrhosis in a cohort comprising whites, blacks, Latinos, Japanese Americans and Native Hawaiians.
According to recent findings published in Hepatology, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease was the most common cause of cirrhosis in a cohort comprising whites, blacks, Latinos, Japanese Americans and Native Hawaiians.
Researchers develop index to better identify individuals with hepatic steatosis
Researchers developed a new score called the Framingham steatosis index that more accurately identified patients with hepatic steatosis, according to recent findings…
Patients with NASH-HCC less likely to receive liver transplant
Patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma are less likely to receive a liver transplant compared with patients with hepatitis C virus and…
New @ NATAP
"In conclusion, most Medicare and commercial insurance beneficiaries have access to DAA-based treatment for chronic HCV infection, but nearly half of the Medicaid beneficiaries within Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania were denied access. Notably, nearly one quarter of Medicaid recipients with cirrhosis experienced treatment denial. Medicaid patients from these states also experienced a longer time to prescription fill than those with Medicare or commercial insurance. These data show that the restrictive preapproval policies for DAA therapies among Medicaid beneficiaries have led to an important disparity in access to HCV therapy that must be addressed...
Last but not least here are a few updates from your favorite bloggers;
Blog Updates
Getting My Mojo Working
By Daryl Luster - July 19, 2016
I don’t normally write pieces on ways to pick you up, but I decided what the heck I would give it a stab. I don’t have a list so much, or any...
Managing Side Effects of Direct-Acting Antivirals
By Jenelle Marie Davis - July 18, 2016
I have just been diagnosed with hepatitis C, now what? After a hepatitis C diagnosis, your doctor will likely provide you with a secondary test. The first test checked for exposure to...
Dosage of Meds with Hep C Treatment
Karen Hoyt - July 17, 2016
If your doctor has talked to you about treatment recently, you’re getting close to being free from hepatitis C. One thing you should consider is the timing of meds with hep C...
Cirrhosis is a Pain in the Neck
Karen Hoyt
I’ve been walking around like Gomer Pyle for a long time. It’s gotten worse since the transplant. You know, because of the big tummy scar and all…. So, the one thing that I was determined to work on in Sedona was neck and shoulder pain.
Hep C Treatment Recovery; Whom Shall I Fear
Hepatitis C and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Lucinda K. Porter, RN
Hepatitis C appears to increase the risk of NAFLD. However, before blaming hepatitis C for fatty liver disease, keep in mind that the prevalence of hepatitis C in the U.S. is less than 2 percent, whereas the prevalence of NAFLD is 30 percent. This makes it hard for hepatitis C is the sole link to NAFLD. An exception is in genotype 3, where there is clearly a higher risk for NAFLD.
Hepatitis C Treatment, Drug Interactions, and Liver Injury
Lucinda K. Porter, RN
Nearly 60 percent of patients were at risk for a drug-drug interaction from one of their medications interacting with their hep C treatment. Patients taking Viekira had the most drug-drug interactions; Sovaldi had the fewest.
Some Good News From Latvia
Greg Jefferys
Walking is the Best Exercise for Liver Disease
Karen Hoyt
For most of the last decade, I couldn’t even pretend that I was an athlete. Okay, with declining liver health, I kept cycling and walking fast trying to boost my energy, but it wasn’t on an athletic level. I’ve beat the Hepatitis C Virus and liver cancer, and I’m still at it.
You can watch many of these important sessions LIVE on Periscope. You can also follow the conversation at the Summit on Twitter with #Hepbunite!
Until next time....
Hep C Treatment Recovery; Whom Shall I Fear
By Connie M. Welch
As I look back on my own Hep C treatment recovery I thought I would share a snippet from my Hep C Treatment & Recovery journal
Lucinda K. Porter, RN
Hepatitis C appears to increase the risk of NAFLD. However, before blaming hepatitis C for fatty liver disease, keep in mind that the prevalence of hepatitis C in the U.S. is less than 2 percent, whereas the prevalence of NAFLD is 30 percent. This makes it hard for hepatitis C is the sole link to NAFLD. An exception is in genotype 3, where there is clearly a higher risk for NAFLD.
Hepatitis C Treatment, Drug Interactions, and Liver Injury
Lucinda K. Porter, RN
Nearly 60 percent of patients were at risk for a drug-drug interaction from one of their medications interacting with their hep C treatment. Patients taking Viekira had the most drug-drug interactions; Sovaldi had the fewest.
Some Good News From Latvia
Greg Jefferys
I have to admit that a lot of my blog posts lately have been a bit negative. I get quite angry about the greed of Big Pharma, the corruption in government and the medical establishment, the pathetic cowardly nature of doctors in the UK and so on. So I tend to focus on these things that are a bit negative. So it is nice to be able to share some good news for a change, and this is very good news!
Walking is the Best Exercise for Liver Disease
Karen Hoyt
For most of the last decade, I couldn’t even pretend that I was an athlete. Okay, with declining liver health, I kept cycling and walking fast trying to boost my energy, but it wasn’t on an athletic level. I’ve beat the Hepatitis C Virus and liver cancer, and I’m still at it.
Links:
Main Site
Main Site
Your Guide To Hepatitis
These special issues of Hep provide information and education for people living with viral hepatitis, including hepatitis C (HCV), hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis A (HAV).
Today's Headlines
The annual Hep B United Summit, organized by the Hepatitis B Foundation, convenes in Washington D.C. from Wednesday, July 27 through Friday, July 29. National and local coalition partners, experts, stakeholders, and federal partners will meet to discuss how to increase hepatitis B testing and vaccination and improve access to care and treatment for individuals living with hepatitis B.
You can watch many of these important sessions LIVE on Periscope. You can also follow the conversation at the Summit on Twitter with #Hepbunite!
Tina
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