World Hepatitis Day

                                     

World Hepatitis Day is an annual event that each year provides international focus for patient groups and people living with hepatitis B and C. It is an opportunity around which interested groups can raise awareness and influence real change in disease prevention and access to testing and treatment.
 
The World Hepatitis Alliance first launched World Hepatitis Day in 2008, and since then over 600 events have taken place around the world, generating massive public and media interest. The Alliance has also received support from governments worldwide, high-profile Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and supranational bodies, such as Médecins Sans Frontières.

Following the World Health Assembly in May 2010, it was agreed that World Hepatitis Day would be recognised annually on 28 July.

The first official WHO World Hepatitis Day occured on July 28, 2011 to increase the awareness and understanding of viral hepatitis and the diseases that it causes. It provided an opportunity to focus on specific actions such as:

• strengthening prevention, screening and control of viral hepatitis and its related diseases;
• increasing hepatitis B vaccine coverage and integration into national immunization    programmes; and
• coordinating a global response to hepatitis.

Hepatitis viruses A, B, C, D and E can cause acute and chronic infection and inflammation of the liver leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer. These viruses constitute a major global health risk with around 350 million people being chronically infected with hepatitis B and around 170 million people being chronically infected with hepatitis C.

‘This is hepatitis…’ - a theme for World Hepatitis Day

So far the ‘Am I Number 12?’ theme has allowed organizations to communicate with a broad audience in a simple way to generate mass awareness around hepatitis B and C. Aimed at destigmatising viral hepatitis and focusing on the real impact of these diseases, ‘This is hepatitis…’, the campaign theme for World Hepatitis Day 2011 aims to tell the human story of viral hepatitis and continue the battle of raising awareness of hepatitis B and C around the world.

As a theme, ‘This is hepatitis…’ sits underneath the umbrella ‘Am I Number 12?’ campaign, and over the next year the featured slogan is:

Know it. Confront it.Hepatitis affects everyone, everywhere.
Don’t let hepatitis tear your life apart.

Thanks to the commitment and passion of the hundreds of patient groups and individuals, the 2008, 2009 and 2010 campaigns produced massive results. Over 600 events took place across 61 countries with global coverage reaching an estimated 1 billion people. These results continue to show what a collective effort can achieve and how, when we work together, we can make a real difference.

We urge everyone to learn about the risk factors involved in hepatitis B and C and the need for testing if they think they might have been infected. To find out more, including a list of the activities which occured or continue to be are planned across Canada to mark this day and to help raise awareness, please visit:

In Canada, there is currently no national strategy or comprehensive system for care, treatment and prevention of hepatitis B and C. This is unacceptable for a country that prides itself on its publicly-funded universal health care system. To reduce the health and social impact of hepatitis B and C on the liver health of Canadians, we ask federal, provincial and territorial governments to adopt a fully- funded and coordinated national strategy that by 2012:

• Promotes prevention of both hepatitis B and C through expanded education, immunization and harm reduction programs all across Canada.
• Improves access to comprehensive care and treatment programs in all areas of the country.
• Increases knowledge and innovation through interdisciplinary research and surveillance to reduce the burden of both hepatitis B and C on Canadians.
• Creates awareness about risk factors, stigma and the need for testing among the general population and at-risk groups.
• Builds capacity through training and recruitment of qualified health professionals.
• Supports communities and community-based groups in developing, delivering and evaluating peer-driven and focused initiatives.

The Canadian Hemophilia Society is a member of the Canadian Coalition of Organizations Responding to Hepatitis B and C which advocates for such a national strategy to be created and implemented. To learn more about the Coalition and its actions, please visit the web site www.canadianhepatitiscoalition.ca



Additional documents

Canadian Government Asks

World Hepatitis Day 2008 Q & A

hepcinfo.ca

Recommendations for a Canadian Hepatitis C Strategy

63rd World Health Assembly resolution on viral hepatitis

ABC video about Hepatitis C

Hepatitis: Are you number 12?
Hepatitis affects one in twelve people around the world and can cause liver damage, cancer and even death. For the most part, Hepatitis is a silent disease which is why it is so important to get checked. A Canadian Press release on WHD.

Get your city to proclaim May 19 Hepatitis Awareness Day! Here are examples:

City of Vancouver 2010 Proclamation

City of Toronto 2009 Proclamation  and 2011 Proclamation


World Hepatitis Alliance Newsletters:

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

March 2010

May 2010

March 2011

April 2011

June 2011