The Hepatitis B and C Public Policy Association works to urge awareness of and the formulation of public policy responses to the epidemic of hepatitis B and hepatitis C across Europe and on Europe’s borders.

 

The Association’s approach aligns with the broad programs of the major international public health institutions, including the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Commission’s agency European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

 

The Association also supports, through its emphasis on public policy, the work of EASL and ELPA in Europe.

 

In October 2010 the Association hosted a summit conference on Hepatitis B and C in Europe countries under the auspices of the Belgian EU Presidency and launched a Call to Action there.

 

In December 2012 the Association hosted a summit conference on Hepatitis B and C in Mediterranean and Balkan countries countries under the auspices of the Cyprus EU Presidency and launched a Call to Action there aimed at the Conference’s target regions. The Call to Action is available in the 15 languages of this target audience.

 

2013

In 2013 the Association’s activities included:

 

1. Communicating the messages of the 2012 Call to Action:

 

• > An initial report on the Conference was widely disseminated by the Association’s Newsletter and by free availability on the Association’s website and on the websites of other associations including World Health Organisation-Europe, Viral Hepatitis Prevention Board, and World Hepatitis Alliance.

 

• > The Call to Action is available on the Association’s website translated into the 15 languages of the Cyprus Conference’s target countries.

 

• > The Journal of Viral Hepatitis Publication published a full report of this event in an independent supplement in June 2013. 

 

• > Production of a slide deck presenting the data, recommendations and conclusions of the Cyprus Conference. It is freely available for downloading from the Association’s website.

 

2. Building on the messages of the Call to Action at national level:

 

Greece:
The Association jointly with the Hellenic Association for the Study of Liver Diseases organized a half-day conference on ‘Viral hepatitis B & C and health policies in Greece’.

The Association was a non-financial sponsor of a hepatitis awareness event organized by the European Liver Patients Association (ELPA) and the Hellenic Liver Patient Association ‘Prometheus’ in Athens. (Q2, 2013).

 

Italy:
The Association sponsored a symposium hosted jointly by AISF (Associazione Italiana Studio del Fegato – Italian national branch of EASL) and SIMG (Societa Italiana dei Medici Generalisti – Italian Association of Family Physicians) which launched the new national Italian recommendations for the integrated management (between family physicians and hepatologists) of patients with HCV. These recommendations were drawn up according to EASL guidelines, as adapted to the national Italian situation.

 

3. Policy Development in Europe

 

The Association’s co-Chairs and members represented the Association and ensured its input at key European and global forums shaping policy development on the management and treatment of chronic viral hepatitis.

 

These include the EU Hepframe Taskforce (set up by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) and the Global Hepatitis Network’s National Planning Working Group (set up by the World Health Organisation), where the co-Chairs are members.

 

4. Expansion of Association’s Newsletter

 

A professional editor was engaged and an international Editoral Board created to aid the Editor-in-Chief of the Association’s Newsletter Prof. Massimo Colombo (past editor-in-chief of EASL’s Journal of Hepatology).

 

5. Barriers to Treatment and Care

 

The investigation into the subject of barriers to care and treatment for patients with chronic viral hepatitis in the EU which was commissioned by the Association was largely completed.

 

Principal investigators Prof. George Papatheodoridis and Prof. Heiner Wedemeyer, both members of the Association, worked on 2 pieces of work 

 

• > A systematic review and evaluation on barriers to care and treatment for patients with chronic viral hepatitis in europe and

 

• > Perceptions on barriers to the appropriate management for patients with chronic viral hepatitis in EU Member States.

 

6. Overview policies for prevention, care and treatment of hepatitis B and C

 

The extensive slide decks providing an ‘Overview of policies for prevention, care and treatment for hepatitis B and hepatitis C’ were updated to cover 2013 inclusive.

 

2014

 

This year the Association will, among other activities:

 

Host a High Level Meeting in Athens on the subject of ‘Economic crisis and healthcare – ensuring access to public health services: the case of hepatitis B and C’, under the auspices of the Greek EU Presidency and the Greek Ministries of Health and of Foreign Affairs.

 

Mr. Adonis Georgiadis, Minister of Health of Greece and Chair of the Council of EU Health Ministers, will be a lead speaker at this meeting.
It will be held in Athens on 3-4 June, 2014.
Further information will follow on this website: www.hepbcppa.org

 

Participate as a non-financial sponsor in the preparation and delivery of a Conference on ‘HIV and Viral Hepatitis: Challenges of Timely Testing and Care’, together with the HIV in Europe initiative and other major stakeholders in the field of hepatitis B and C. The event will take place on 5-8 October 2014, in Barcelona, with an estimated 250-300 participants.
More information will follow shortly on this site.
The Association’s participation and input at ECDC, WHO and other key external policy forums continue.