Dear NVHR Members:
We are pleased to let you know that NVHR was able to sponsor large back-lighted posters in six US airports commemorating World Hepatitis Awareness Day with an in-kind donation from Clear Channel. The ads will go up on or around May 19 and stay up until the end of May. Here are the locations:
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson – 10 posters
Boston Logan – 3 posters
Denver Int’l – 4 posters
Minneapolis-St. Paul – 2 posters
Philadelphia Int’l – 5 posters
St. Louis Int’l – 2 posters
Seattle-Tacoma – 4 posters
If you are traveling in any of these areas this month, please look for the posters and snap a picture for our records. Your photo will be sent to the World organizers and we will put it up on the NVHR website.
Thanks!
Martha
Martha Saly
Interim Administrator
National Viral Hepatis Roundtable (NVHR)
phone: 707-480-0596
NVHR World
Hepatitis Day Information Toolkit
Organizational Sign On Letter Requesting the Pan American Health Organization Endorse World Hepatitis Day
Given your interest and support for increasing the profile of the viral hepatitis epidemics in the U.S. and around the world, the World Hepatitis Alliance is seeking your help in its plans for World Hepatitis Day 2008.
Please see the attached organizational sign on letter to Dr. Mirta Roses Periago of the Pan American Health Organization (the regional World Health Organization office) requesting official WHO endorsement of World Hepatitis Day. Global organizers are hoping that the regional offices of WHO will weigh in on the importance of increased attention to viral hepatitis at the WHO meeting in Switzerland in May.
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World Hepatitis Day 2008 is just around the corner! Hello-
World Hepatitis Day 2008 is just around the corner! Thank you to everyone who has been working to raise awareness of HBV, HCV and chronic viral hepatitis! Attached is a press release which will be distributed on Monday in conjunction with a media briefing held in Geneva, Switzerland. Please feel free to utilize any or all of this press release for local media outreach.
Some other updates you may be hearing about:
Airport Advertising
The National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHR) is sponsoring World Hepatitis Day posters in several airports in the United States from 5/19 through the end of the month. The airports are:
-Atlanta-Hartsfield Jackson
-Boston Logan
-Denver International
-Minneapolis-St. Paul
-Philadelphia International
-St. Louis International
-Seattle-Tacoma
If you happen to be in one of these airports through the end of May, keep an eye out for one of the posters! (Attached is a picture of what they look like!)
Chris Kennedy Lawford and Dr. Diana Sylvestre Talk with the Media
Actor and activist Chris Kennedy Lawford and Dr. Diana Sylvestre will be on the radio, television and print media on Friday, May 16 and over the weekend. They will be discussing both HCV and HBV and World Hepatitis Day. Thanks to Roche Pharmaceuticals for assisting with making this media tour a reality.
Pan American Health Organization Endorses World Hepatitis Day
It was recently announced that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has endorsed World Hepatitis Day. Advocates from North and South America sent communications to PAHO seeking official recognition. We hope this will strengthen the efforts to secure World Health Organization (WHO) endorsement.
www.aminumber12.org
More than 10,000 people have visited www.aminumber12.org . The United States has had over 2,000 visits. Keep sending people to the website. On 5/19, it will redirect them to a website with information on hepatitis.
Your Activities and Pictures
Please send any information about your observances/activities and any pictures to worldhepday@fleishman.com
Thank You!
Thank you for all the work you have been doing to raise awareness of viral hepatitis. This isn’t about just one day, but a continued movement to prevent new infections, provide care, support and treatment for those infected, and honor and remember those fought their disease as long as they could. You are all amazing people who contribute so much and in so many ways to this movement.
As we continue to move forward with planning for 2009…trust that you will be hearing from me and/or someone from the global organizing committee!
Take care-
Chris Taylor, Viral Hepatitis Program Manager
National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
444 North Capitol Street NW, Suite 339, Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 434-8041 Fax: (202) 434-8092
ctaylor@NASTAD.org www.NASTAD.org
"Bridging Science, Policy, and Public Health"
Apologies for Cross Postings – Please Distribute to Hepatitis Advocates in Your Area!
With less than two weeks to go until World Hepatitis Day 2008, there are many activities planned throughout the country. Whether at the national, state or local level, there has been an overwhelming response from hepatitis advocates throughout the country! So many activities are being planned that have built on past observances or programs, and some communities are observing hepatitis awareness for the first time! However you are planning to raise awareness of viral hepatitis – whether focusing on World Hepatitis Day, Hepatitis Awareness Month, Hepatitis B Week – it is a wonderful opportunity to highlight the need for additional funding, services and community awareness!
Attached is the May World Hepatitis Day Newsletter as well as some background documents on the campaign.(see below>
The global website www.aminumber12.org will automatically direct visitors to www.worldhepatitisday.com on May 19. There will be information about HBV and HCV, where to find resources locally, etc. If you would like to have your organization listed on the website, or a link to your organization, please send your logo and web address ASAP to: worldhepday@fleishman.com.
Thank you again for your interest in raising awareness of viral hepatitis! This international observance has been a large undertaking! Collectively, our presence and influence will grow as we continue to raise the profile of viral hepatitis.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks!
Chris Taylor, Viral Hepatitis Program Manager
National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
444 North Capitol Street NW, Suite 339, Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 434-8041 Fax: (202) 434-8092
ctaylor@NASTAD.org www.NASTAD.org
"Bridging Science, Policy, and Public Health"
Background Documents on the Campaign:
Am I No 12 Fact Sheet(PDF format)
World Hepatitis Day Fact Sheet(PDF format)
Tips For Working with the Media(PDF format)
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| WORLD HEPATITIS DAY
Background
There are estimated to be at least 130 million people in the world living with hepatitis C and more than 350 million with hepatitis B, a total of almost 500 million. Yet it is widely recognized that awareness of hepatitis B and C is extremely low with the great majority of those infected unaware of the fact and the world public largely ignorant of infection risks. Inevitably, with competing health priorities, low awareness generally equates to low political will for action.
In recent years hepatitis patient groups have attempted to change this by co-ordinating awareness activities around a specific day, notably October 1st. However, despite some success, these initiatives have never been truly global, the North and South American patient groups, for example, being unable, for various reasons, to participate on October 1st. Furthermore, these initiatives have not always been driven by the patient groups themselves.
Patient group representatives from North America, South America, Europe, North Africa, Australasia and China therefore met in Barcelona in April 2007 to commit to a new global initiative. The necessity of a single awareness day to act as a focus was agreed, despite the acknowledgement that there are far too many such ‘days’, because it was felt that the level of awareness of chronic viral hepatitis was so inexplicably low for a problem of this size. May 19th was chosen, the first Day to be in 2008.
In order to oversee World Hepatitis Day and to ensure that it is a patient-led initiative, the World Hepatitis Alliance was established in Geneva with a governing board of patient representatives, one from each of 6 world regions, and a president representing the totality of hepatitis patients. During the summer of 2007 the Alliance asked 12 worldwide communications agencies to pitch to run the World Hepatitis Day campaign and chose Fleishman-Hillard.
Campaign Theme
The campaign focuses on the size of chronic viral hepatitis as a health challenge using a simple message: ‘Am I number 12?’ to highlight that approximately 1 in 12 of the world population has chronic HBV or HCV infection, that infection is often undiagnosed and that it could be any one of us (as opposed to some other group).
Campaign Aims
The aims of this single international day focusing on chronic viral hepatitis (B & C) are to:
- Raise awareness of these diseases within the general public, people at risk, healthcare providers and government audiences.
- Provide an overall theme within which patient groups in each country can highlight particular national needs. Because this is a patient-led campaign, much of the campaign material is devoted to supporting patient groups in delivering whatever message they decide is appropriate for their country.
- Persuade national governments to commit to ‘12 Asks’ by 2012 (see below for more details). Governments with good hepatitis programmes will be encouraged to become ‘early adopters’ and have their work show-cased.
- Draw together data not just on prevalence and incidence but also on best practice and barriers to improved outcomes in a ‘Hepatitis Atlas’
12 Asks
Governments are being asked to commit to putting in place 12 constituents of an effective hepatitis programme. They are initially being asked to commit to them by 2012 with no fixed date for actioning them. Of course, some countries will find this much easier than others and part of our work in the future will be forming partnerships to make these commitments possible.
6 of the 12 are universal for all countries:
- Public recognition of chronic viral hepatitis as an urgent public health issue
- The appointment of an individual to lead Government strategy nationally
- The development of a patient pathway for screening, diagnosis, referral and treatment
- Clear, quantifiable targets for reducing incidence and prevalence
- Clear, quantifiable targets for reducing mortality
- Clear, quantifiable targets for screening
A further 6 will be tailored to the circumstances of each individual country. An example would be:
- Commitment to an ongoing national vaccination programme
- Effective surveillance and publication of national incidence and prevalence statistics
- Commitment to examine cases of best practice internationally
- Commitment to work with patient groups in policy design and implementation
- Provision of free and anonymous (or confidential) testing
- A public awareness campaign that alerts people to the issue and is committed to reducing stigma
Public Health Panel
We have established a small public health panel of experts to provide advice and support. Expected to total 15 in all, it so far comprises:
- Prof Baruch Blumberg (N America)
- Prof Greg Dore (Australasia)
- Dr. Leonardo Pinchuk (S America)
- Dr. Miguel Garassini (S America)
- Dr. João Mendonça (S America)
- Prof Zeuzem (Europe)
- Prof Singh (India)
Partnerships
We are in discussions with major global institutions involved in the health field including the Gates Foundation, the Open Society Institute, UNICEF and the Red Cross and have so far received endorsements from the Clinton Foundation and Médecins Sans Frontières. We are also in discussions with the major clinical bodies involved with hepatitis such as EASL, AASLD and APASL and have so far received confirmed endorsement from ALEH, the Latin American Association for the Study of the Liver.
Funding
Funding has been sought from a wide range of sponsors. So far it has been received from 6 competing pharmaceutical companies that manufacture drugs for the treatment of HBV or HCV or both – BMS, Gilead, Janssen-Cilag, Novartis, Roche and Schering-Plough – and from the financial information provider Bloomberg. |
