CGHE Releases Report: 

Building Resilient Health Systems: Sharing Investments in Hepatitis Elimination and Pandemic Preparedness

May 10, 2023

Atlanta – The Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination (CGHE), a program of The Task Force for Global Health, has published a report establishing that many critical global needs for building resilient health systems to face pandemic threats can be met by expanded efforts to eliminate viral hepatitis. The report, titled “Building Resilient Health Systems: Sharing Investments in Hepatitis Elimination and Pandemic Preparedness” provides an overview of how investments in achieving hepatitis elimination and preparing for the next pandemic are mutually reinforcing.

As the 76th World Health Assembly convenes this month in Geneva, a major topic under consideration will be the draft “Pandemic preparedness and response accord,” a guiding document to help countries prepare for future outbreaks, particularly in light of lessons learned from the COVID-19 response. One important lesson was that countries with robust viral hepatitis elimination testing and treatment programs were better positioned to respond to the pandemic and saw reduced caseloads and mortality rates compared to geographic peers. Likewise, other countries experienced an expansion of health infrastructure like testing technology and telemedicine. Many countries are now well-positioned to expedite hepatitis elimination efforts while at the same time maintaining these systems to respond to new outbreaks.

Jimmy Kolker, Part-time Senior Advisor for Global Covid Response and Health Security at the Department of State, says “Hepatitis is uniquely placed to take advantage of lessons that COVID-19 has provided.”

According to CGHE director John Ward, “Bringing pandemic innovation into hepatitis elimination programs, and vice versa, is an easy win—eliminating an immediate threat to global health while sustaining the infrastructure to simultaneously aid pandemic preparedness. Using a range of data and expert advice, our paper makes the case that this approach should be universally adopted. Frankly, as an advancement in public health, this is a no-brainer.”

Many COVID-19 investments, such as expanded testing technology, are sitting dormant. This report calls on health leaders and policymakers to utilize pandemic preparedness investments to accelerate the fight against viral hepatitis and, in return, harness strengthened viral hepatitis elimination infrastructure to support pandemic preparedness.

To download the report and learn more:

https://www.globalhep.org/sharing-investments-hepatitis-elimination-and-pandemic-preparedness

Contact: Monica Fambrough, Communications Manager, Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination, mfambrough [at] taskforce.org