Today, only 1 in 20 people with viral hepatitis know they have it. And just 1 in 100 with the disease is being treated. This year AFEW is joining the celebration of the First European Hepatitis Awareness Week on 25 – 29 July, the week of World Hepatitis Day, falling on 28 July.
A staggering 95% of people infected with hepatitis B or C around the world do not know they are infected. One reason for this is that people can live without symptoms for many years. When they find out they have hepatitis, it is often too late for treatment to be fully effective. As a result, liver damage becomes cirrhosis or liver cancer.
By 2020 the World Health Organization would like to see five million people receiving treatment for chronic hepatitis B virus infection, three million people having been treated for chronic hepatitis C virus infection and the number of new cases of chronic hepatitis infection reduced by 30% compared with the number of new cases in 2015. The longer term aim is to reduce new viral hepatitis infections by 90% and to reduce the number of deaths due to viral hepatitis by 65% by 2030 from 2016 figures.
The Hepatitis B and C Public Policy Association encourages you to sign the petition and to ask European and national policy-makers to officially adopt the “European Hepatitis Awareness Week” which would become an occasion to hold intensive, coordinated awareness-raising and educational activities across Europe.
