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. 2017 Nov 17;5(1):ofx252.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofx252. eCollection 2018 Jan.

Aiming at the Global Elimination of Viral Hepatitis: Challenges Along the Care Continuum

Alastair Heffernan  1 , Ella Barber  2   3 , Nicola A Cook  4 , Asmaa I Gomaa  5 , Yolande X Harley  6 , Christopher R Jones  2 , Aaron G Lim  7 , Zameer Mohamed  4   8 , Shevanthi Nayagam  1   4 , Gibril Ndow  4   9 , Rajiv Shah  10 , Mark W Sonderup  11 , C Wendy Spearman  11 , Imam Waked  5 , Robert J Wilkinson  2   12   13 , Simon D Taylor-Robinson  4
Affiliations

Aiming at the Global Elimination of Viral Hepatitis: Challenges Along the Care Continuum

Alastair Heffernan et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

A recent international workshop, organized by the authors, analyzed the obstacles facing the ambitious goal of eliminating viral hepatitis globally. We identified several policy areas critical to reaching elimination targets. These include providing hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination to all infants within 24 hours of birth, preventing the transmission of blood-borne viruses through the expansion of national hemovigilance schemes, implementing the lessons learned from the HIV epidemic regarding safe medical practices to eliminate iatrogenic infection, adopting point-of-care testing to improve coverage of diagnosis, and providing free or affordable hepatitis C treatment to all. We introduce Egypt as a case study for rapid testing and treatment scale-up: this country offers valuable insights to policy makers internationally, not only regarding how hepatitis C interventions can be expeditiously scaled-up, but also as a guide for how to tackle the problems encountered with such ambitious testing and treatment programs.

Keywords: elimination; hepatitis care continuum; policy; viral hepatitis.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Overview of the WHO care continuum for viral hepatitis and the associated challenges encountered when aiming toward WHO elimination targets, adapted fromn Zhou et al. [3]. Populations within the care continuum for viral hepatitis are as defined within the Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis [4]. Abbreviations: HBV = hepatitis B virus; HCV = hepatitis C virus; WHO = World Health Organization.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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