On the occasion of World Hepatitis Day, ECDC launches 2014 surveillance data on hepatitis B and C in Europe.
The data show a greater disease burden for hepatitis C compared with hepatitis B across Europe: numbers and notification rates for HCV are nearly twice as high as those of hepatitis B.
NOhep, a global movement to eliminate viral hepatitis, will be launched on WHD2016 to bring people together and provide a platform for people to speak out, be engaged and take action to ensure global commitments are met and viral hepatitis is eliminated by 2030.
The Hepatitis Birth Dose Guide developed by the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) of the WHO’s Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals has been published.
The guide includes:
an overview of WHO recommendations, best practices, technical justification and strategic approaches relating to providing hepatitis B birth dose to newborns;
operational requirements for introducing a vaccination that should be delivered as soon after birth as possible, preferably within 24 hours (and explicitly mentions false contraindications);
information for policy discussions and operational strategies for the introduction of hepatitis B birth dose vaccination into a national immunization programme.
On 28 May 2016, representatives from the WHO Member States convening the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly unanimously endorsed the Global Health Sector Strategy (GHSS) on viral hepatitis for 2016–2021.
Aim of the strategy: spur countries to action in order to eliminate hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
The updated WHO Guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations
for the treatment of persons with hepatitis C infection
using, where possible, all-oral combinations of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs).