The first-ever World Hepatitis Summit held in Glasgow, Scotland in which over 600 patients, policy makers, civil society, physicians, public health specialists and other key stakeholders participated.

The summit, co-sponsored by WHO and the World Hepatitis Alliance, and hosted in Glasgow by the Scottish Government on 2-4 September 2015, was the first high-level global meeting to focus specifically on hepatitis, attracting delegates from more than 60 countries. The aim was to help countries enhance action to prevent viral hepatitis infection and ensure that people who are infected are diagnosed and offered treatment.

We know how to prevent viral hepatitis, we have a safe and effective vaccine for hepatitis B, and we now have medicines that can cure people with hepatitis C and control hepatitis B infection,” said Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, Director of the WHO’s Global Hepatitis Programme. “Yet access to diagnosis and treatment is still lacking or inaccessible in many parts of the world. This summit was a wake-up call to build momentum to prevent, diagnose, treat - and eventually eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health problem.”

Around 400 million people are currently living with viral hepatitis, and the disease claims an estimated 1.45 million lives each year, making it one of the world’s leading causes of death. Hepatitis B and C together cause approximately 80% of all liver cancer deaths, yet most people living with chronic viral hepatitis are unaware of their infection.

“This summit was about empowering countries to take the practical steps needed at a national level. It brought here to Scotland patients’ groups and civil society from across the world to support countries in doing this. We can eliminate viral hepatitis as a major global killer but we must all work together to make that vision a reality,” said Charles Gore, President of the World Hepatitis Alliance.

WHO, officially launched manual for the development and assessment of national viral hepatitis plans in the mentioned summit and the draft of WHO Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis, which sets targets for 2030, was thoroughly discussed by Policymakers and other key stakeholders. The targets mentioned in WHO draft include a 90% reduction in new cases of chronic hepatitis B and C, a 65% reduction in hepatitis B and C deaths, and treatment of 80% of eligible people with chronic hepatitis B and C infections.

Please click here to view or download WHO manual for the development and assessment of national viral hepatitis plans.

Dr. Shima Naghavi, Director of International Affairs