World Hepatitis Day
World Hepatitis Day is an annual event on the 28th July that provides international focus for patient groups and people living with viral hepatitis. It is an opportunity to raise awareness and influence real change in disease prevention and access to testing and treatment.
Who organises World Hepatitis Day?
World Hepatitis Day was launched by the World Hepatitis Alliance in 2008 in response to the concern that chronic viral hepatitis did not have the level of awareness, nor the political priority, seen with other communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. In May 2010 the World Health Assembly passed Resolution WHA63.18 on viral hepatitis which provides official endorsement of World Hepatitis Day. Since 2010 World Hepatitis Day has been coordinated by the World Hepatitis Alliance in collaboration with the WHO.
What happens on the day?
Every year World Hepatitis Day gets bigger and bigger, with more countries and organisations taking part. Since its launch in 2008, thousands of events have taken place, from rock concerts and press briefings to ministerial meetings and fundraising events. In 2012 the World Hepatitis Alliance organised a Guinness World Record attempt for the most people performing the ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ actions within 24 hours. For more information about what’s going on this year and to get inspiration from previous events, visit the World Hepatitis Day pages on their website.
The 2017 campaign will focus on the theme 'Show your face to eliminate Hepatitis'
To achieve elimination of viral hepatitis, greater awareness, increased diagnosis and key interventions including universal vaccination, blood and injection safety, harm reduction and treatment are all needed. This means every activity that addresses viral hepatitis is a step towards elimination.
WHD 2017 posters and other campaign materials are available to download here.
Visit the campaign website: click here