Monday, 15 May 2023 (Geneva, Switzerland) -The Hepatitis Fund and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) will partner on the inaugural Global Hepatitis Resource Mobilization Conference taking place on Wednesday, 17 May, at the Hotel Intercontinental in Geneva, Switzerland, announced today for the Swiss newspaper Le Canton27.ch Ms. Franceska Da Ros, communications manager.
Chelsea Clinton, WHO DG Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark to address historic conference on viral hepatitis
Chelsea Clinton, Vice Chair of the board of directors for CHAI, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and former New Zealand Prime Minister and current Hepatitis Fund Ambassador Helen Clark will address the event, which will also be attended by Rakan Khalid Bin Dohaish, Assistant Deputy Minister of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Prof. Mohammed Hassany, Assistant to the Minister of Health, Arab Republic of Egypt. They will be joined by high-level representatives from a number of health ministries from high-burden countries including, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia. Representatives from medical and nursing organizations and communities affected by hepatitis will also address the conference.
The high-level conference will be hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, two countries with high burdens of hepatitis C and hepatitis B, respectively. The event is a global call to action to boost financial and political commitment towards viral hepatitis elimination by 2030 and is being viewed as a historical turning point in the fight against a “hidden epidemic” that, if left unchecked, is projected to outnumber HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria deaths combined by 2040
The conference has set a goal of raising significant funds to support investment in countries where there is already political commitment and initial action has been taken towards implementing a national plan. These catalytic funds will help kick-start implementation or significantly accelerate progress towards achieving the country’s goals. The target amount for this collective effort is US$150 million.
Michel Kazatchkine, the former Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund), will deliver a keynote address in the opening session, drawing parallels with the early days of the AIDS pandemic where scientific and community activism pushed for access to life-saving drugs in lower and middle-income countries.
Viral hepatitis is the seventh leading cause of mortality worldwide. Despite a cure for Hepatitis C (HCV) and a vaccine to prevent Hepatitis B (HBV), both viruses affect more than 350 million people, with 90 per cent of infections concentrated in low- and middle-income countries. Every year, over 1.1 million people die from a hepatitis-related illness, and three million are newly infected. If not addressed, viral hepatitis deaths are projected to outnumber HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria deaths combined by 2040. Despite this, the global health threat of viral hepatitis is hugely neglected and underfunded.