CDC Issues Statement on World Hepatitis Day 2011

[Guest guest]

http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2011/07/cdc-issues-statement-on-world-\

hepatitis-day-2011.aspx

CDC Issues Statement on World Hepatitis Day 2011

Posted in News, Hepatitis, Infections & Pathogens, Centers For Disease Control

And Prevention (CDC)

Fenton, MD, PhD, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral

Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC), and M. De Cock, MD, director of the Center for Global

Health, also at the CDC, have issued the following statement:

On this first World Health Organization (WHO)-sponsored World Hepatitis Day,

July 28, 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) joins the

world in reflecting on the remarkable successes and enormous challenges in the

global effort to prevent and control viral hepatitis.

These successes and challenges are amplified because viral hepatitis is not a

single disease. Hepatitis is caused by at least five viruses—including two

spread by water or food contaminated with feces(hepatitis A and E) and three

transmitted by blood and body fluids (hepatitis B, D, and C) during childbirth

(from infected mother to child); through injecting drug use, needle sticks, or

transfusions; or through sexual contact. Hepatitis B and C infections can cause

cirrhosis of the liver and lead to liver cancer.

Today, more than 500 million persons worldwide are living with viral hepatitis

and do not have adequate access to care—increasing their risk for premature

death from liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Each year, more than 1 million

people die from viral hepatitis and millions of new infections add to this

global burden of disease and death.

This first World Hepatitis Day honors the man who achieved one of the greatest

and earliest successes in viral hepatitis prevention—Dr. Baruch Blumberg,

discoverer of the hepatitis B virus in 1967. He later developed an effective

vaccine and won the Nobel Prize for his efforts. His discoveries were the first

in a series of tools developed to combat viral hepatitis: diagnostic tests, new

therapies and vaccines.

Vaccines are clearly making a difference today. The hepatitis B vaccine is now

offered to children in 178 countries worldwide, providing a level of protection

that prevents more than 700,000 deaths from cirrhosis and liver cancer in each

new generation. And because hepatitis D requires the presence of hepatitis B

virus to cause infection, hepatitis B vaccination eliminates the risk of

contracting hepatitis D. A vaccine that prevents hepatitis A has been

effectively used since the 1990s. In development are promising new vaccines

against hepatitis E, a common cause of water- borne hepatitis in Asia and Africa

that disproportionately kills pregnant women. Unfortunately, vaccines against

hepatitis C infection remain elusive.

Besides effective vaccines, tests for viral hepatitis have made the blood supply

safer by dramatically lowering the risk for transfusion-associated hepatitis B

and C infections. And for persons living with hepatitis B and C, improved access

to screening and referral for treatment can reduce disease and death. Today, new

therapies for hepatitis C can eliminate the virus in 3 out of 4 persons treated,

essentially curing their infection.

While we celebrate these gains, we have much more to do. In the United States,

many if not most people living with hepatitis are not aware of their infection,

and thus cannot benefit from the effective treatments that are available. Lack

of progress in countries with fewer resources has been directly related to the

inability to implement what works—providing clean water and guaranteeing a safe

food supply, routinely offering the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine and

ensuring that every child receives 3 doses, educating health care providers and

at-risk people about the importance of being tested, improving infection control

procedures in health care facilities, and raising awareness of risk among

injection drug users. We must redouble our commitment to ensure these effective

tools are fully utilized to benefit all people at risk for viral hepatitis.

To this end, in 2010 the World Health Assembly passed a resolution urging member

states to comprehensively address viral hepatitis. In the United States, the

Department of Health and Human Services has developed an action plan to speed

our progress: Combating the Silent Epidemic of Viral Hepatitis: Action Plan for

the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis. CDC will play a key role

in U.S. efforts to implement and ensure the success of this comprehensive plan

and will assist other countries in raising public and provider awareness;

implementing interventions tailored for a country’s individual hepatitis burden;

and convincing policymakers worldwide to support the best systems for

prevention, care, and treatment.

To honor Dr. Blumberg’s legacy, let us use all the tools at our disposal to stop

the suffering caused by viral hepatitis. In the words of the WHO’s 2010 report

to the World Health Assembly, " the time is right " and " [t]he impact of these

efforts on mortality and morbidity will be significant because of the tremendous

burden of disease. "

[Guest guest]

http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2011/07/cdc-issues-statement-on-world-\

hepatitis-day-2011.aspx

CDC Issues Statement on World Hepatitis Day 2011

Posted in News, Hepatitis, Infections & Pathogens, Centers For Disease Control

And Prevention (CDC)

Fenton, MD, PhD, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral

Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC), and M. De Cock, MD, director of the Center for Global

Health, also at the CDC, have issued the following statement:

On this first World Health Organization (WHO)-sponsored World Hepatitis Day,

July 28, 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) joins the

world in reflecting on the remarkable successes and enormous challenges in the

global effort to prevent and control viral hepatitis.

These successes and challenges are amplified because viral hepatitis is not a

single disease. Hepatitis is caused by at least five viruses—including two

spread by water or food contaminated with feces(hepatitis A and E) and three

transmitted by blood and body fluids (hepatitis B, D, and C) during childbirth

(from infected mother to child); through injecting drug use, needle sticks, or

transfusions; or through sexual contact. Hepatitis B and C infections can cause

cirrhosis of the liver and lead to liver cancer.

Today, more than 500 million persons worldwide are living with viral hepatitis

and do not have adequate access to care—increasing their risk for premature

death from liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Each year, more than 1 million

people die from viral hepatitis and millions of new infections add to this

global burden of disease and death.

This first World Hepatitis Day honors the man who achieved one of the greatest

and earliest successes in viral hepatitis prevention—Dr. Baruch Blumberg,

discoverer of the hepatitis B virus in 1967. He later developed an effective

vaccine and won the Nobel Prize for his efforts. His discoveries were the first

in a series of tools developed to combat viral hepatitis: diagnostic tests, new

therapies and vaccines.

Vaccines are clearly making a difference today. The hepatitis B vaccine is now

offered to children in 178 countries worldwide, providing a level of protection

that prevents more than 700,000 deaths from cirrhosis and liver cancer in each

new generation. And because hepatitis D requires the presence of hepatitis B

virus to cause infection, hepatitis B vaccination eliminates the risk of

contracting hepatitis D. A vaccine that prevents hepatitis A has been

effectively used since the 1990s. In development are promising new vaccines

against hepatitis E, a common cause of water- borne hepatitis in Asia and Africa

that disproportionately kills pregnant women. Unfortunately, vaccines against

hepatitis C infection remain elusive.

Besides effective vaccines, tests for viral hepatitis have made the blood supply

safer by dramatically lowering the risk for transfusion-associated hepatitis B

and C infections. And for persons living with hepatitis B and C, improved access

to screening and referral for treatment can reduce disease and death. Today, new

therapies for hepatitis C can eliminate the virus in 3 out of 4 persons treated,

essentially curing their infection.

While we celebrate these gains, we have much more to do. In the United States,

many if not most people living with hepatitis are not aware of their infection,

and thus cannot benefit from the effective treatments that are available. Lack

of progress in countries with fewer resources has been directly related to the

inability to implement what works—providing clean water and guaranteeing a safe

food supply, routinely offering the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine and

ensuring that every child receives 3 doses, educating health care providers and

at-risk people about the importance of being tested, improving infection control

procedures in health care facilities, and raising awareness of risk among

injection drug users. We must redouble our commitment to ensure these effective

tools are fully utilized to benefit all people at risk for viral hepatitis.

To this end, in 2010 the World Health Assembly passed a resolution urging member

states to comprehensively address viral hepatitis. In the United States, the

Department of Health and Human Services has developed an action plan to speed

our progress: Combating the Silent Epidemic of Viral Hepatitis: Action Plan for

the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis. CDC will play a key role

in U.S. efforts to implement and ensure the success of this comprehensive plan

and will assist other countries in raising public and provider awareness;

implementing interventions tailored for a country’s individual hepatitis burden;

and convincing policymakers worldwide to support the best systems for

prevention, care, and treatment.

To honor Dr. Blumberg’s legacy, let us use all the tools at our disposal to stop

the suffering caused by viral hepatitis. In the words of the WHO’s 2010 report

to the World Health Assembly, " the time is right " and " [t]he impact of these

efforts on mortality and morbidity will be significant because of the tremendous

burden of disease. "

[Guest guest]

http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2011/07/cdc-issues-statement-on-world-\

hepatitis-day-2011.aspx

CDC Issues Statement on World Hepatitis Day 2011

Posted in News, Hepatitis, Infections & Pathogens, Centers For Disease Control

And Prevention (CDC)

Fenton, MD, PhD, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral

Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC), and M. De Cock, MD, director of the Center for Global

Health, also at the CDC, have issued the following statement:

On this first World Health Organization (WHO)-sponsored World Hepatitis Day,

July 28, 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) joins the

world in reflecting on the remarkable successes and enormous challenges in the

global effort to prevent and control viral hepatitis.

These successes and challenges are amplified because viral hepatitis is not a

single disease. Hepatitis is caused by at least five viruses—including two

spread by water or food contaminated with feces(hepatitis A and E) and three

transmitted by blood and body fluids (hepatitis B, D, and C) during childbirth

(from infected mother to child); through injecting drug use, needle sticks, or

transfusions; or through sexual contact. Hepatitis B and C infections can cause

cirrhosis of the liver and lead to liver cancer.

Today, more than 500 million persons worldwide are living with viral hepatitis

and do not have adequate access to care—increasing their risk for premature

death from liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Each year, more than 1 million

people die from viral hepatitis and millions of new infections add to this

global burden of disease and death.

This first World Hepatitis Day honors the man who achieved one of the greatest

and earliest successes in viral hepatitis prevention—Dr. Baruch Blumberg,

discoverer of the hepatitis B virus in 1967. He later developed an effective

vaccine and won the Nobel Prize for his efforts. His discoveries were the first

in a series of tools developed to combat viral hepatitis: diagnostic tests, new

therapies and vaccines.

Vaccines are clearly making a difference today. The hepatitis B vaccine is now

offered to children in 178 countries worldwide, providing a level of protection

that prevents more than 700,000 deaths from cirrhosis and liver cancer in each

new generation. And because hepatitis D requires the presence of hepatitis B

virus to cause infection, hepatitis B vaccination eliminates the risk of

contracting hepatitis D. A vaccine that prevents hepatitis A has been

effectively used since the 1990s. In development are promising new vaccines

against hepatitis E, a common cause of water- borne hepatitis in Asia and Africa

that disproportionately kills pregnant women. Unfortunately, vaccines against

hepatitis C infection remain elusive.

Besides effective vaccines, tests for viral hepatitis have made the blood supply

safer by dramatically lowering the risk for transfusion-associated hepatitis B

and C infections. And for persons living with hepatitis B and C, improved access

to screening and referral for treatment can reduce disease and death. Today, new

therapies for hepatitis C can eliminate the virus in 3 out of 4 persons treated,

essentially curing their infection.

While we celebrate these gains, we have much more to do. In the United States,

many if not most people living with hepatitis are not aware of their infection,

and thus cannot benefit from the effective treatments that are available. Lack

of progress in countries with fewer resources has been directly related to the

inability to implement what works—providing clean water and guaranteeing a safe

food supply, routinely offering the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine and

ensuring that every child receives 3 doses, educating health care providers and

at-risk people about the importance of being tested, improving infection control

procedures in health care facilities, and raising awareness of risk among

injection drug users. We must redouble our commitment to ensure these effective

tools are fully utilized to benefit all people at risk for viral hepatitis.

To this end, in 2010 the World Health Assembly passed a resolution urging member

states to comprehensively address viral hepatitis. In the United States, the

Department of Health and Human Services has developed an action plan to speed

our progress: Combating the Silent Epidemic of Viral Hepatitis: Action Plan for

the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis. CDC will play a key role

in U.S. efforts to implement and ensure the success of this comprehensive plan

and will assist other countries in raising public and provider awareness;

implementing interventions tailored for a country’s individual hepatitis burden;

and convincing policymakers worldwide to support the best systems for

prevention, care, and treatment.

To honor Dr. Blumberg’s legacy, let us use all the tools at our disposal to stop

the suffering caused by viral hepatitis. In the words of the WHO’s 2010 report

to the World Health Assembly, " the time is right " and " [t]he impact of these

efforts on mortality and morbidity will be significant because of the tremendous

burden of disease. "

[Guest guest]

http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2011/07/cdc-issues-statement-on-world-\

hepatitis-day-2011.aspx

CDC Issues Statement on World Hepatitis Day 2011

Posted in News, Hepatitis, Infections & Pathogens, Centers For Disease Control

And Prevention (CDC)

Fenton, MD, PhD, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral

Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC), and M. De Cock, MD, director of the Center for Global

Health, also at the CDC, have issued the following statement:

On this first World Health Organization (WHO)-sponsored World Hepatitis Day,

July 28, 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) joins the

world in reflecting on the remarkable successes and enormous challenges in the

global effort to prevent and control viral hepatitis.

These successes and challenges are amplified because viral hepatitis is not a

single disease. Hepatitis is caused by at least five viruses—including two

spread by water or food contaminated with feces(hepatitis A and E) and three

transmitted by blood and body fluids (hepatitis B, D, and C) during childbirth

(from infected mother to child); through injecting drug use, needle sticks, or

transfusions; or through sexual contact. Hepatitis B and C infections can cause

cirrhosis of the liver and lead to liver cancer.

Today, more than 500 million persons worldwide are living with viral hepatitis

and do not have adequate access to care—increasing their risk for premature

death from liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Each year, more than 1 million

people die from viral hepatitis and millions of new infections add to this

global burden of disease and death.

This first World Hepatitis Day honors the man who achieved one of the greatest

and earliest successes in viral hepatitis prevention—Dr. Baruch Blumberg,

discoverer of the hepatitis B virus in 1967. He later developed an effective

vaccine and won the Nobel Prize for his efforts. His discoveries were the first

in a series of tools developed to combat viral hepatitis: diagnostic tests, new

therapies and vaccines.

Vaccines are clearly making a difference today. The hepatitis B vaccine is now

offered to children in 178 countries worldwide, providing a level of protection

that prevents more than 700,000 deaths from cirrhosis and liver cancer in each

new generation. And because hepatitis D requires the presence of hepatitis B

virus to cause infection, hepatitis B vaccination eliminates the risk of

contracting hepatitis D. A vaccine that prevents hepatitis A has been

effectively used since the 1990s. In development are promising new vaccines

against hepatitis E, a common cause of water- borne hepatitis in Asia and Africa

that disproportionately kills pregnant women. Unfortunately, vaccines against

hepatitis C infection remain elusive.

Besides effective vaccines, tests for viral hepatitis have made the blood supply

safer by dramatically lowering the risk for transfusion-associated hepatitis B

and C infections. And for persons living with hepatitis B and C, improved access

to screening and referral for treatment can reduce disease and death. Today, new

therapies for hepatitis C can eliminate the virus in 3 out of 4 persons treated,

essentially curing their infection.

While we celebrate these gains, we have much more to do. In the United States,

many if not most people living with hepatitis are not aware of their infection,

and thus cannot benefit from the effective treatments that are available. Lack

of progress in countries with fewer resources has been directly related to the

inability to implement what works—providing clean water and guaranteeing a safe

food supply, routinely offering the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine and

ensuring that every child receives 3 doses, educating health care providers and

at-risk people about the importance of being tested, improving infection control

procedures in health care facilities, and raising awareness of risk among

injection drug users. We must redouble our commitment to ensure these effective

tools are fully utilized to benefit all people at risk for viral hepatitis.

To this end, in 2010 the World Health Assembly passed a resolution urging member

states to comprehensively address viral hepatitis. In the United States, the

Department of Health and Human Services has developed an action plan to speed

our progress: Combating the Silent Epidemic of Viral Hepatitis: Action Plan for

the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis. CDC will play a key role

in U.S. efforts to implement and ensure the success of this comprehensive plan

and will assist other countries in raising public and provider awareness;

implementing interventions tailored for a country’s individual hepatitis burden;

and convincing policymakers worldwide to support the best systems for

prevention, care, and treatment.

To honor Dr. Blumberg’s legacy, let us use all the tools at our disposal to stop

the suffering caused by viral hepatitis. In the words of the WHO’s 2010 report

to the World Health Assembly, " the time is right " and " [t]he impact of these

efforts on mortality and morbidity will be significant because of the tremendous

burden of disease. "