The Association will extend its work to communicate the message contained in the Call to Action issued in 2010 to a broader geographical area. Its planned activities in 2011 and 2012 in the European Union and beyond include (but are not limited by):
Journal of Viral Hepatitis
In August 2011 the Journal of Viral Hepatitis published an independent supplement devoted to the Conference on Hepatitis B and C in Europe. View using this link: http://bit.ly/zCZ6FF
Conference on Hepatitis B and C in Mediterranean and Balkan Countries: 5th-7th December, 2012
The Association will host a Summit Conference on Hepatitis B and C in Mediterranean and Balkan Countries on 5th-7th December, 2012 in Nicosia, Cyprus under the auspices of the Cyprus EU Presidency. The website for this event will be made available very shortly. The Association will expand its initiative to this large area, specifically gathering its major stakeholders in the field – including regulators, patients, clinicians, and the public health and civil society communities – at a Summit Conference which will present new data on the spread and management of these diseases, a Hepatitis Network for the region, and a Call for Action which will have been previously approved by the range of stakeholders.
The countries invited to participate at this major event will be: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, FYROM, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey.
This summit conference will also emphasise and support the Resolution on Viral Hepatitis adopted at the 63rd World Health Assembly in May 2010.
Newsletter
The first issue of the Association’s quarterly Newsletter was published in March 2012 [view Newsletter]. Future issues will continue to briefly summarise the most recent data on epidemiology, prevention, public policy, therapeutic and diagnostic improvements for hepatitis B and C. Issues will become available on this website as they are published.
Global Hepatitis Partnership
The Association’s Working Group on Hepatitis as a Millenium Development Goal hosted a high-level meeting of international policy experts in London in December 2011, which agreed an approach towards highlighting viral hepatitis as a global public health emergency. An update on further activity in 2012 in this field will be posted in due course.
National level activities
The Association is ready to encourage and participate in national level activities on hepatitis B and hepatitis C which will further the message of the Call to Action. The Association held a conference in Greece in March 2012. For information on the meeting on ‘Hepatitis B and C: an underestimated scourge in Greece” please contact Prof. Angelos Hatzakis directly on [email protected]
Bringing data into the public domain
Prof. Angelos Hatzakis and Prof. Harry Janssen have produced an extensive slide deck based on the material presented at the October 2010 Conference as a public tool. Please feel free to view and download using this link: An Overview of Policies for Prevention, Care and Treatment of Hepatitis B and C.
Supporting EU-level initiatives
The Association will continue to communicate closely with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Contol (ECDC) to ensure that its activities complement initiatives which are underway at EU level.
The Association plans to co-host, together with the Viral Hepatitis Prevention Board (VHPB), a meeting on the cost-effectiveness of screening strategies for Hepatitis B and C across Europe.
The Association will support, through its emphasis on public policy, the work of EASL and ELPA in Europe.
