“Scaling-up the testing and treatment of viral hepatitis towards the 2030 elimination goals.

On World Hepatitis Day (WHD) 2023, WHO will host a global webinar in collaboration with partners worldwide, to raise awareness on the viral hepatitis epidemic. The theme for WHD 2023 is “One life, one liver” and it is positioned to illuminate the importance of the liver to the hepatitis elimination agenda.

One of the key features of the event will be highlights from the second and updated 2023 version of the country elimination validation guidance which incorporates the lessons and feedback from the implementation pilot conducted in all WHO regions, as well as experiences from other countries. This revised guidance establishes for the first time a global criterion for Path to Elimination (PTE) for hepatitis B and C for Members States that have made significant progress towards viral elimination but have challenges achieving 2030 targets due to a high baseline burden or absolute targets of incidence or mortality.  

The PTE describes a step-wise progression through the prevention, diagnosis and treatment coverage from bronze to silver to gold tiers and will promote an iterative expansion of programmes and strengthening of measurement systems towards demonstrating 2030 elimination impact targets. Several countries are eligible for these tiers and are already actively engaging to commence the official process of validation.

The webinar will feature WHO leaders and high-profile speakers in a multi-stakeholder discussion to share country examples and solutions that highlight the importance of the liver for a healthy life and the need to scale up viral hepatitis prevention, testing and treatment to optimize liver health, prevent liver disease and achieve the 2030 hepatitis elimination. It will highlight the importance of a public health elimination approach and upcoming complementary guidelines update that has the potential to change the trajectory of the hepatitis B response.”