The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially launched the Global Hepatitis Network, a major new international collaboration for the prevention and control of viral hepatitis at a press conference at APASL Liver Week in Singapore.
It is an initiative from the WHO’s Global Hepatitis Programme that will build capacity and strengthen national, regional and global action to tackle viral hepatitis. The WHO will provide secretariat support to the Global Hepatitis Network, with a chair and steering committee overseeing a number of regional and technical working groups. A major focus for the Global Hepatitis Network will be to work on activities that strengthen international collaboration around WHO’s Framework for the Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, which is focused on four distinct axes:
- Axis 1: Raising awareness, promoting partnerships and mobilizing resources
- Axis 2: Evidence-based policy and data for action
- Axis 3: Prevention of transmission
- Axis 4: Screening, care and treatment
Welcoming the news, the Coalition to Eradicate Viral Hepatitis in Asia Pacific (CEVHAP) pledged their support to the Global Hepatitis Network. A CEVHAP founding member, Professor Seng Gee Lim said, “A systematic and coordinated response across Asia Pacific is essential to combat these diseases. Every day clinicians witness the significant challenges that national health services face in combating viral hepatitis and we hope the Global Hepatitis Network will inject new vigor into the global and regional response.”
CEVHAP claims that it is ideally placed to support the work of the Global Hepatitis Network in Asia Pacific, and is in the process of applying for membership. Professor Ding-Shinn Chen, Chair of CEVHAP commented, “The Global Hepatitis Network represents an excellent opportunity for greater collaboration between governments and expert groups, and will we hope mobilise resources that are urgently needed. The launch of the Network reflects the growing recognition that viral hepatitis is as serious a global threat as HIV, TB and malaria, something that is crucially important to elevate attention and drive action.”
Speaking at the launch of the Global Hepatitis Network, Charles Gore, President of the World Hepatitis Alliance and a founding member of CEVHAP noted, “The greatest challenge for the Global Hepatitis Network will be to access resources that are urgently needed to tackle viral hepatitis. The major global health funds still exclude hepatitis and despite significant advancements in treatment, the funding situation has led to an era of neglect and a spiral in deaths.”
Professor Stephen Locarnini, Joint Secretary of CEVHAP and Director of the WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for Hepatitis B at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) welcomed the news saying “We applaud the leadership of WHO’s Global Hepatitis Programme in forming this network. As a WHO Regional Reference Laboratory in the region, VIDRL have already learned the power of international collaboration and this new network demonstrates the important progress and resource commitment being made by WHO.”
EH News Bureau