HHS Action Plan to Prevent, Care and Treat Viral Hepatitis

The full report can be found on TFAH's website at:
 http://www.tfah.org/report/76/hepatitis-report.

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Trust for America's Health (TFAH) applauds the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for unveiling a new strategic approach to dealing with the silent epidemic of viral hepatitis today.  This action plan will help the nation better identify millions of Americans who are living with chronic forms of hepatitis B and C and assure access to treatment for all who need it, and prevent even more Americans from becoming infected.

"Millions of Baby Boomers and others have hepatitis B or C and do not realize it.  They have been facing the potential fate of developing serious, life-threatening liver diseases without ever knowing they were even infected," said Jeff Levi, Ph.D., Executive Director of TFAH.  "The plan calls for educating providers and communities, improving treatment, strengthening surveillance, reducing vaccine-preventable cases, protecting patients and healthcare workers, and curbing the spread through injection drugs. We hope the plan will receive the resources it needs to be fully and effectively implemented."
"This plan, if properly supported with sufficient resources, could help spare needless suffering and expensive medical costs – and since people develop these diseases as they age, this could result in particularly big savings for Medicare and Medicaid," added Levi.

According to a report TFAH and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) issued last year:

• An estimated 65 to 75 percent of the five million Americans currently infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) do not even know they have the virus;
• The Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimates that 150,000 Americans could die from liver cancer or end-stage liver disease associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the next decade;
• The death rate from HCV is expected to triple in the next 10 to 20 years;
• An independent analysis found total medical costs for HCV patients could more than double over the next 20 years – from $30 to $80 billion per year;
• Liver cancer treatment can be more than $62,000 for the first year cost and the first-year cost of a liver transplant can be more than $267,000;
• Two-thirds of HCV cases are Baby Boomers – and if they are left untreated, it could lead to a major increase in upcoming Medicare spending;
• One in 10 Asian and Pacific Islander Americans are estimated type="text/javascript" src="../tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/themes/advanced/langs/en.js" to have a chronic HBV infection;
• An estimated 540,000 to 858,000 African Americans are estimated to have a chronic HCV infection;
• Approximately 800 to 1,000 infants in the United States are infected with HBV at birth each year; and
• At least 100,000 patients have been notified about potential exposure to HBV, HCV, and/or HIV while receiving health care since 1998.

HHS Announces Action Plan To Prevent And Treat Viral Hepatitis

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today launched its action plan to prevent and treat viral hepatitis, a silent epidemic affecting 3.5 - 5.3 million Americans.

Though viral hepatitis is a leading infectious cause of death in the U.S., many people who have it don't know they are infected, so they are at greater risk for severe - or even fatal - complications of the disease. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that health care providers often lack the appropriate training to conduct risk assessments, offer prevention counseling, provide diagnoses and treat viral hepatitis.

"These infections have fueled a tragic cascade of human suffering," said Howard K. Koh, MD, MPH. "The new HHS action plan on viral hepatitis represents an unprecedented call to action for better education, treatment and prevention."

In January 2010, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report on hepatitis, highlighting barriers that impede efforts for hepatitis prevention and control. The new HHS plan -- Combating the Silent Epidemic: US Department of Health and Human Services Action Plan for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis -- is a response to the IOM report. It outlines a comprehensive action plan to raise awareness about viral hepatitis; creates more opportunities to train health professionals to diagnose, treat, vaccinate, and ultimately save lives; and builds upon the new health insurance reform law to improve patient access to comprehensive viral hepatitis-related prevention and treatment services through expanded coverage.

The plan's success is contingent on leadership of government at all levels and the active and informed participation of communities, non-governmental organizations, health care providers, and the private sector.

"No one government agency can fight viral hepatitis alone, and here at CDC, we believe this action plan will not only strengthen the work we've been doing, but help all of us across the government collaborate to take our nation's prevention efforts to the next level," said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH. "Far too many Americans are unaware of the serious impact of viral hepatitis and the devastating consequences that can result from leaving it untreated. The time for action is now."

"We have seen the increasing prevalence of viral hepatitis in our network of health centers and among people living with HIV/AIDS in underserved areas and we know that minorities and medically vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected," said Health Resources and Services Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, RN, PhD. "This action plan is our best chance at stopping the disease with increased access to information and quality care for those at risk and those who are already infected.

HHS is committed to ensuring that new cases of viral hepatitis are prevented and that persons who are already infected are tested, informed about their infection, and provided with optimal counseling, care and treatment. This increasing commitment is evidenced in the new Healthy People 2020 plan, the first Healthy People publication to document increasing viral hepatitis awareness among infected persons as a formal HHS objective.

Source:
HHS