The Hepatitis-C Community Summit was held in Amsterdam, on the 18th and 19 of April 2017, and was organized by the Correlation Network Hepatitis C Initiative. During the welcome speech, Eberhard Schatz expressed his hope that this meeting would contribute to hepatitis C elimination. In order to achieve this goal, we need to treat everyone. Unfortunately, there are still barriers to treatment due to fear of the old treatment. It is now time to target key populations with the best available treatment. Also we need to bridge the gap between theory and how to reach people who are most vulnerable.
On day one, there was a clear call for action to target the most vulnerable group, namely PWID. Two of the biggest barriers mentioned were fear of treatment and fear of prosecution. In order to overcome these, there has to be active outreach through peer-advocacy of the new way of treatment and a change of attitude towards PWID on all levels.
On the second day of the summit, participants separated and went to break-out sessions relating to their respective interests. One of these break-out sessions discussed identifying high-risk groups and providing them with prevention and care. This included the Amsterdam Public Health Service’s effort to bring harm reduction to certain MSM populations in the Netherlands. Another focused on the pricing mechanisms of DAAs, discussing how prices differed from region to region and the legal constraints on countries to produce generics
We now have the first global strategy for viral hepatitis, and the first ever global hepatitis report will be published with the most recent statistics. While we have come a long way, there is still much work to be done. Regional actions plans must be promoted in all countries using existing health care and laboratory facilities.
For further information please see: http://hepatitiscommunitysummit.eu/