Showing posts with label 2017 World Hepatitis Summit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2017 World Hepatitis Summit. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Podcast: What it will take for hepatitis C to be cured in Canada

AMI Podcast
November 13, 2017 episode
2017 World Hepatitis Summit

Hepatitis C in Canada 
Dr. Jordan Feld from the Toronto Centre for Liver Disease discuss what it will take for hepatitis C to be cured in Canada.

Of all infectious disease in Canada the one disease that causes most years of life lost is hepatitis C. 

Listen here......

Friday, November 3, 2017

Hepatitis C is a huge public health problem in Canada

Hepatitis C could be eliminated in Canada, but drug prices, screening barriers stand in the way
By Nicole Ireland, CBC News Posted: Nov 03, 2017 1:42 AM ET

In a presentation to the World Hepatitis Summit in Sao Paulo on Thursday, Hill said 90 per cent of hepatitis C patients can now be cured in 12 weeks, at a cost of about $50 US per patient...

For Feld, the larger barrier to curing the estimated 250,000 people infected with the virus in this country is the absence of a "targeted, well-structured national plan" to actually reach those patients...

Feld advocates broadening screening in Canada to everyone born between 1945 and 1975 — a practice recommended by the Canadian Liver Foundation but rejected by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care....

Read more... http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/hepatitis-c-can-be-cured-in-canada-1.4385172?cmp=rss

Viral Hepatitis Hit 52 Million Children Worldwide – NGO

Viral Hepatitis Hit 52 Million Children Worldwide – NGO
World Hepatitis Alliance, in a report on Friday, children are suffering a huge burden of viral hepatitis worldwide, and the public health implications of this are enormous.

The analysis in the report was conducted by Manal El-Sayed, professor of pediatrics at Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, and the Polaris Observatory, led by Dr. Homie Razavi with the Center for Disease Analysis Foundation in Colorado, the U.S. Raquel Peck, CEO of the World Hepatitis Alliance.

“Most infected infants and children are not diagnosed, prioritized or treated effectively,’’ Peck said.
Read more: https://www.frontiersnews.com/viral-hepatitis-hit-52-million-children-worldwide-ngo/

Focus on children with viral hepatitis imperative for elimination goals
November 3, 2017
Recent data revealed that, worldwide, 52 million children are living with viral hepatitis, compared with 2.1 million children with HIV or AIDS, according to data presented at the World Hepatitis Summit 2017 in São Paulo, Brazil.

“We must act and treat as many children as possible. The economic and social benefit of early hepatitis C treatment in children is substantial,” Manal El-Sayed, MD, professor of pediatrics at Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, said in a related press release. “This includes avoiding disease progression, removing social stigma and improving activity and school performance, and reducing fatigue. However, the fundamental principle is to avoid transmission by adopting ‘cure as prevention’ at an early age and before high risk behaviors emerge that enable transmission.”
Read more: https://www.healio.com/hepatology/hepatitis-c/news/online/%7B8a1cc8fe-43db-4e18-9140-bbc9ccac0c58%7D/focus-on-children-with-viral-hepatitis-imperative-for-elimination-goals

Thursday, November 2, 2017

BMC Supplement: “Testing for chronic hepatitis B and C – a global perspective.”

Open Access
Volume 17 Supplement 1
Testing for chronic hepatitis B and C – a global perspective
By Sonjelle Shilton | 02 Nov, 2017

Dear colleagues,
I am pleased to share this link to the BMC Infectious Diseases supplement, “Testing for chronic hepatitis B and C – a global perspective.”

This supplement, timed to coincide with the 2017 World Hepatitis Summit currently ongoing in Brazil, includes important articles relating to the WHO 2017 Guidelines on hepatitis B and C testing, provides a host of information regarding the current hepatitis B and C space and recommends next steps that we can take as a global health community to tackle these diseases. More specifically, the supplement presents research on the diagnostic accuracy of hepatitis B and C testing (including the use of dried blood spots), a target product profile for optimising diagnosis of viraemic HCV infection in low- and middle-income countries, economic evaluations of testing methods, ways forward to reaching equitable hepatitis B and C testing globally, and much more.

As FIND - together with partners such as WHO and others - continues to contribute to hepatitis C elimination through our HEAD*-Start project, we look forward to participating in an ongoing dialogue with the global health diagnostic community on challenges and lessons learned within this disease space.

*Hepatitis c Elimination through Access to Diagnostics
On behalf of Francesco Marinucci, Head of FIND HCV/HIV

Published on: 1 November 2017
BMC Infectious Diseases supplement, “Testing for chronic hepatitis B and C – a global perspective.” (external URL)

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

8 things to know ahead of the World Hepatitis Summit

8 things to know ahead of the World Hepatitis Summit

Devex spoke with Hirnschall and Marc Bulterys, team leader of the Global Hepatitis Program at the WHO in Geneva, about the gaps, outstanding challenges, and ongoing work toward elimination. Here’s what you can expect from the three-day meeting.


Nine countries now on track to eliminate hepatitis C

Global progress towards hepatitis C elimination still blocked by cost of treatment, lack of diagnosis
Keith Alcorn
Published: 01 November 2017
According to the Polaris Observatory estimates just over half of people with hepatitis C in the United States are aware of their infection. Although rates of diagnosis are high in New York state (81%) and California (71%), other states are doing less well, and the United States is also experiencing a sharp increase in new hepatitis C infections in young adults and adolescents as a result of sharing of injecting equipment.

Nine countries now on track to eliminate hepatitis C
1 Nov 2017 Tara Farrell

[Sao Paulo, 1 November 2017] New data on hepatitis C released by the Polaris Observatory* and presented today at the World Hepatitis Summit (WHS) in Sao Paulo, Brazil show that nine countries — Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Japan, the Netherlands and Qatar — are on course to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030.

Worldwide, viral hepatitis kills more than one million people each year, and more than 300 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B or C. Yet, with the development of highly-effective direct acting antivirals (DAAs) for hepatitis C and the increasing rates of hepatitis B treatment and vaccination coverage globally, elimination of viral hepatitis has become a real possibility.

“This new data shows that elimination of hepatitis C is possible but it also shows more must be done to support governments in tackling viral hepatitis,” said Charles Gore, President of the World Hepatitis Alliance. “The World Hepatitis Summit offers governments the opportunity to learn from other countries and public health experts, in an effort to speed up progress to elimination.”

Since the adoption of World Health Organization’s (WHO) elimination targets in 2016, which include a 90% reduction of new hepatitis B and C infections and a 65% reduction in hepatitis B and C related mortality by 2030, some countries are making great strides yet multiple factors preventing progress remain for the majority. These include a lack of political will and global funding mechanisms, poor data and surveillance, access to diagnostics and medicines and poor diagnosis rates (approx. 10% worldwide for hepatitis B and 20% for hepatitis C), that together mean that many countries are struggling to reach the targets.

Some key countries which are being highlighted at the Summit for their innovative work to eliminate viral hepatitis are Brazil, Egypt, Australia and Georgia. In 2017, Egypt pledged to test 30 million for hepatitis C by the end of 2018 by implementing mass screening initiatives (including assistance from the military), as well as mass producing generic copies of DAA drugs for under US $200 per 12-week course.

Meanwhile, WHS host nation Brazil has committed to gradually lift treatment restrictions in 2018, meaning that the country will be able to treat all people infected with hepatitis C, ensuring it is on target to eliminate hepatitis C. Previously, treatment was restricted to only the sickest patients with advanced liver disease.

“Brazil has championed the cause of hepatitis on the world stage for many years and has pushed for an intensified global hepatitis response,” says Adele Schwartz Benzaken, director of the Brazilian Ministry of Health’s Department of Surveillance, Prevention and Control of STIs, HIV/AIDS and Viral Hepatitis. “In addition to the work we have already done on hepatitis B, opening up vaccination to the whole population, we are now gradually removing the restrictions on access to hepatitis C treatment – so that, from 2018 on, the entire infected population can be treated, not just the sickest.”

The Australian government responded to the call for universal access to the hepatitis C DAAs with an AUS $1billion dollar investment over 5 years. This risk-sharing agreement with pharmaceutical companies provides government-funded treatment to all adults without restriction and has paved the way for the elimination of hepatitis C by 2030. More than 30,000 patients with hepatitis C were treated and cured in 2016.

“What we are seeing is that some countries, especially those with a high burden, are making the elimination of viral hepatitis a priority and are looking at innovative ways to do it,” said Home Razavi, Director of CDA. “However, it will be near-impossible for most other countries to meet the WHO targets without a huge scale-up in political will and access to diagnostics and treatment.”

Although only a handful of countries are currently on track to reach the WHO’s elimination targets, there are a number of other countries which are making progress. Mongolia, Gambia, and Bangladesh have shown real political will and, along with Brazil, Georgia and Egypt, are spearheading the NOhep Visionary Programme** in their region, due to their commitment to ending their epidemics.

“Because viral hepatitis has been neglected for so long, much needs to be done rapidly to make up for lost time,” concluded Gore. “In that context, the Summit, a biennial event, focuses on the public health approach to viral hepatitis and acts as the central forum for countries to share their experience and best practice in order to drive rapid advances in national responses.”

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Close to 3 million people access hepatitis C cure

Close to 3 million people access hepatitis C cure

World Hepatitis Summit 2017 calls for accelerated action to eliminate viral hepatitis

31 October 2017 | São Paulo, Brazil - On the eve of the World Hepatitis Summit in Brazil, WHO reports increasing global momentum in the response to viral hepatitis. A record 3 million people were able to obtain treatment for hepatitis C over the past two years, and 2.8 million more people embarked on lifelong treatment for hepatitis B in 2016.

"We have seen a nearly 5-fold increase in the number of countries developing national plans to eliminate life-threatening viral hepatitis over the last 5 years," says Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, Director of WHO's Department of HIV and Global Hepatitis Programme. "These results bring hope that the elimination of hepatitis can and will become a reality."

Hosted by the Government of Brazil, the World Hepatitis Summit 2017 is being co-organized by WHO and the World Hepatitis Alliance. The Summit aims to encourage more countries to take decisive action to tackle hepatitis, which still causes more than 1.3 million deaths every year and affects more than 325 million people.

"We cannot lose sight of the fact that last year 194 governments committed to eliminating viral hepatitis by 2030. For sure we are still a long way from this goal but that doesn’t mean it’s some unattainable dream. It’s eminently achievable. It just requires immediate action," says Charles Gore, President of World Hepatitis Alliance. "The World Hepatitis Summit 2017 is all about how to turn WHO’s global strategy into concrete actions and inspire people to leave with a ‘can do’ attitude."

"Brazil is honored to host the World Hepatitis Summit 2017 – and welcomes this extraordinary team of experts, researchers, managers and civil society representatives to discuss the global health problem posed by viral hepatitis," says Dr Adele Schwartz Benzaken, Director of the Brazilian Ministry of Health’s Department of Surveillance, Prevention and Control of STIs, HIV/AIDS and Viral Hepatitis."Brazil is committed to taking recent advances in its response to hepatitis forward – on the road to elimination."
Progress in treatment and cure

Many countries are demonstrating strong political leadership, facilitating dramatic price reductions in hepatitis medicines, including through the use of generic medicines—which allow better access for more people within a short time.

In 2016, 1.76 million people were newly treated for hepatitis C , a significant increase on the 1.1 million people who were treated in 2015. The 2.8 million additional people starting lifelong treatment for hepatitis B in 2016 was a marked increase from the 1.7 million people starting it in 2015. But these milestones represent only initial steps – access to treatment must be increased globally if the 80% treatment target is to be reached by 2030.

However, funding remains a major constraint: most countries lack adequate financial resources to fund key hepatitis services.
Diagnosis challenge

To achieve rapid scale-up of treatment, countries need urgently to increase uptake of testing and diagnosis for hepatitis B and C. As of 2015, an estimated 1 in 10 people living with hepatitis B, and 1 in 5 people living with hepatitis C, were aware of their infection. Countries need to improve policies, and programmes to increase awareness and subsequent diagnosis.
Prevention gaps

Countries need to provide a full range of hepatitis prevention services that are accessible to different population groups, particularly those at greater risk.

Largely due to increases in the uptake of hepatitis B vaccine, hepatitis B infection rates in children under 5 fell to 1.3% in 2015, from 4.7% in the pre-vaccine era.

However, the delivery of other prevention services, such as birth-dose vaccination for hepatitis B, harm reduction services for people who inject drugs, and infection control in many health services, remains low. This has led to continuing rates of new infections, including 1.75 million new hepatitis C cases every year.
Need for innovation

Innovation in many aspects of the hepatitis response must continue. New tools required include a functional cure for hepatitis B infection and the development of more effective point-of-care diagnostic tools for both hepatitis B and C.

"We cannot meet the ambitious hepatitis elimination targets without innovation in prevention interventions and approaches, and implementing them to scale,” said Dr Ren Minghui Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases, WHO. “The great successes of hepatitis B vaccination programmes in many countries need to be replicated and sustained globally in the context of moving forward to universal health coverage."
Implementation of elimination strategy

The World Hepatitis Summit 2017 will be attended by over 900 delegates from more than 100 countries, including Ministers of Health, national programme managers, and representatives from organizations of people affected by viral hepatitis. The Summit will review progress and renew commitments by global partners to achieve the elimination of viral hepatitis by 2030 – a target reflected in WHO's elimination strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.