Raquel Peck, Chief Executive Officer, World Hepatitis Alliance highlights how governments in the South-East Asia have adopted the Regional Action Plan for viral hepatitis
Despite killing 1.3 million people worldwide each year, viral hepatitis remains a disease neglected and misunderstood by governments, medical professionals and the general public. New data from the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Hepatitis Report, 2017 revealed that of the 39 million living with hepatitis B in the South-East Asia region, only three per cent are aware of their infection. Similarly of the 10 million living with hepatitis C, just nine per cent have been diagnosed. World Hepatitis Day on July 28, gives us an opportunity to change this.
While the startling figures show that there is still much to be done, positive steps on both global and national levels have been made to tackle viral hepatitis. Last year, 194 countries committed to the goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a major public health threat by 2030 by adopting the first-ever Global Strategy on viral hepatitis. Likewise, governments in the South-East Asia adopted the Regional Action Plan for Viral Hepatitis in South-East Asia, 2016-2021 that sets a number of targets to improve surveillance, prevention, diagnosis and treatment measures.
Significant commitment was also made in India last year when WHO held their global World Hepatitis Day event in Mumbai with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHF&W). At the event, Anupriya Patel, Minister of State, Health & Family Welfare, Government of India(GoI) announced that all children will be vaccinated against hepatitis B by 2020 while Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan declared his commitment to tackling the disease. Reinforcing this, Bachchan has since become the official Goodwill Ambassador for hepatitis in South-East Asia Region and has pledged to raise awareness and demand action across the region.
Similar efforts are also being made at a state-level in India. The Government of Punjab in particular has been a true flag-bearer for the hepatitis C treatment in India. Under the Mukh Mantri Punjab Hepatitis-C Relief Fund (MMPHCRF), the government provides free hepatitis C treatment to all residents of Punjab with the aim of eliminating hepatitis C from the region within 10 years.
Many civil society organisations and patient groups are also working tirelessly throughout the country to help eliminate hepatitis B and C. Chennai Liver Foundation regularly organises awareness raising initiatives for school children and conducts free screenings while Community Network for Empowerment (CoNE) generates awareness of hepatitis C among people who inject drugs and advocates to improve polices on treatment.
Despite these efforts, the burden remains high and awareness remains low. This is why World Hepatitis Day is so important. One of just four disease-specific global awareness days officially endorsed by WHO, World Hepatitis Day unites patient organisations, governments, medical professionals, civil society and the general public to boost the profile of the disease.
“Now that elimination is firmly on the map, World Hepatitis Day 2017 is our opportunity to build on this momentum. With so few people aware of their infection in India, we must use World Hepatitis Day to encourage people to get tested and come forward for treatment. Without significant improvements in prevention, diagnosis and treatment, we cannot expect to eliminate this killer” says Prof. RP Shanmugam, Executive Board Member for the South-East Asia region, World Hepatitis Alliance and Founder, Chennai Liver Foundation. Elimination is, of course, not just a public health goal – it is an individual goal for millions of men, women and children across the world. Every single person could be affected by viral hepatitis and we all have a part to play to achieve elimination. To highlight this, World Hepatitis Day 2017 aims to put a human face to elimination with the #ShowYourFace campaign. The campaign calls on individuals and organisations to take a selfie and show their face in support of the elimination of viral hepatitis.
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