The HSE is today, Friday 28th July, supporting 2017 World Hepatitis Day and welcomes the many initiatives that are being organised by voluntary and advocacy sectors to mark the day in Ireland.
In 2010 the World Health Organisation (WHO) made World Hepatitis Day one of only four official disease-specific worldwide health days, celebrated each year on the 28th July. Millions of people across the world now take part in World Hepatitis Day, to raise awareness about viral hepatitis, including hepatitis C, and to call for access to treatment, better prevention programmes, improved surveillance and testing, and government action.
The theme of World Hepatitis Day 2017 is ELIMINATION which was also the theme in 2016. In 2015 the HSE established a National Hepatitis C Treatment Programme whose ultimate goal is to make hepatitis C a rare disease in Ireland by 2026. This will be done through the implementation of a multi annual public health plan – this fully supports the hepatitis elimination strategy as adopted by WHO member states at its World Health Assembly meeting in May 2016.
Professor Aiden McCormick, who is currently the interim Chair of the HSE National Hepatitis C Treatment Programme Clinical Advisory Group and a Consultant Hepatologist in St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, said “Hepatitis C is curable and the National Hepatitis C Treatment Programme aims to provide everyone in Ireland infected with Hepatitis C access to treatment over the coming years with a view to making Hepatitis C a rare disease in Ireland by 2026. Our goal is to meet or exceed the WHO target of elimination by 2030. One of our objectives in taking part in World Hepatitis Day is to raise awareness about the virus and to encourage people to recognise if they are at risk, or have previously been at risk, for Hepatitis C and to get tested. Many people infected with hepatitis do not know they are infected with Hepatitis C.” (See list of symptoms at www.hse.ie/hepc).
Currently there are an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people in Ireland chronically infected with hepatitis C, more than half of whom are not aware of their infection, the stage of their disease and, in some cases, are not linked to care. Through the HSE National Hepatitis C Treatment Programme almost 2,000 patients have been provided with treatment since 2015 with cure rates in excess of 90%. All persons infected with hepatitis C through contaminated blood and blood products have now been offered treatment with cure rates as high as 97% of cases.
Michele Tait, Programme Manager for the HSE Treatment Programme said, “Taking part in World Hepatitis Day is important for everyone affected by Hepatitis C and for everyone working to support people who are infected. The day helps us to raise awareness as there are thousands of people who are infected but unaware.”
The HSE is also taking part in the World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) NOhep campaign. WHA is a global patient led group made up of 230 organisations across 81 countries working in the field of viral hepatitis. As part of World Hepatitis Day in 2016, the WHA launched a new international movement called NOhep. The HSE is asking all of its staff and partner agencies to partake in the NOhep worldwide Twitter Thunderclap at 12.00 today, to raise awareness across the world (#NOhep: Eliminate hepatitis).
The HSE is pleased to support the launch of new Hepatitis C Screening Guidelines on World Hepatitis Day by Minister of State for Health Promotion and the National Drugs Strategy, Catherine Byrne. The guidelines were developed under the direction of the National Clinical Effectiveness Committee of the Department of Health through a group chaired by Dr Lelia Thornton, Specialist in Public Health Medicine, HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
By working with agencies, the HSE National Treatment Programme, the HSE Hepatitis C Strategy Implementation group, and our staff who deliver services, we can raise awareness of hepatitis and improve access to treatments.
Source: www.hse.ie, 28/07/17
Safer Student Nights
eBulletin
Poll
