Coalition hosts event calling for a UN Group of Friends to support global hepatitis elimination

Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination joins U.N. representatives, Ministers of Health, and leaders from over 20 nations to support efforts to reach WHO goal of eliminating hepatitis worldwide by 2030

NEW YORK – Heads of state, ministers of health, civil society organizations and partners seeking global solidarity in the fight against viral hepatitis gathered on Sept 20 at the Bryant Park Grill at 10 a.m. in a side-event to the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly to call for the formation of a U.N. Group of Friends dedicated to eliminating the disease. The event was organized by the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination at The Task Force for Global Health, whose work with partners in more than 150 countries seeks to strengthen health systems and eliminate diseases such as viral hepatitis.

Presenters from twenty-two countries, along with two Nobel laureates and nine partner organizations came together in support of an effort to encourage global health diplomacy to fight the disease. Official country representatives from Chile, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Malaysia, Nigeria, Portugal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Ukraine voiced support for the formation of a Group of Friends. Similar support was voiced by government affiliated academic representatives from China and Japan. Korea announced readiness to explore formation.

Dr. Michael Houghton, who was recently awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine, along with Harvey Alter and Charles M. Rice, for discovering the Hepatitis C virus, announced his support for the event: “With recent developments in diagnosis, treatment and vaccines, it is now within our grasp to meet the WHO’s challenge of eliminating hepatitis as a major public health threat by the end of this decade.”

In Africa, where viral hepatitis is rapidly becoming more of a threat than HIV or malaria, over 90% of people living with the disease lack access to care. Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, Advisor on Health to the president of Ghana, was the first to formally call for the formation of a U.N. Group of Friends: “To address these health inequities by accelerating progress toward the U.N. and WHO goals for hepatitis elimination, Ghana calls for the formation of a U.N. Group of Friends to Eliminate Hepatitis.”

Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Acting Director of CDC Africa, said, “When we gather in the village square, it is not because we need food…it is because it is good to come together. Today it is really good to come together to speak about eliminating hepatitis from the world...We call on all the countries on our continent to be part of this effort.”

Egypt announced a partnership with Ghana, in which medicine to treat 50,000 people for hepatitis will be given from Egypt to Ghana in an example of the kind of health diplomacy that will be required to eliminate the disease.

Vice-President of the Chinese Preventative Medicine Association, Dr. Liang Xiaofeng, spoke in favor of forming the group. He said, “We will strongly support forming a Group of Friends for Hepatitis elimination. We hope the group will be launched successfully, and the WHO 2030 hepatitis elimination goal will be achieved.”

A complete recording of the event is available here: https://www.globalhep.org/webinars/solidarity-hepatitis-elimination-call-un-group-friends

About the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination

The Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination provides services to assist the planning, implementation and evaluation of national and sub-national programs to eliminate hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission and disease. For more information, visit www.globalhep.org.

About The Task Force for Global Health

The Task Force for Global Health, based in Atlanta and founded nearly 40 years ago to advance health equity, works with partners in more than 150 countries to eliminate diseases, ensure access to vaccines and essential medicines, and strengthen health systems to protect populations. For more information, visit www.taskforce.org.