Globally, 400 million people are living with viral hepatitis and over 1.4 million people die every year because of it. Health ministers, policy makers, civil society and public health specialists from around the world have committed to this momentous declaration to call on governments to set targets which will form a road map towards elimination of this global health threat.
The Declaration calls on governments to implement comprehensive, funded national hepatitis programmes in line with the World Health Assembly Resolution 67.6.
The full declaration can be found at www.worldhepatitissummit.com.
The Declaration marked the close of summit held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) on the 4th September 2015. The World Hepatitis Summit was a joint World Health Organization (WHO) and World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) event hosted by the Scottish Government and supported by Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) and Health Protection Scotland.
The three-day meeting was convened in response to last year’s World Health Assembly Resolution calling for concerted action to reverse the ever-rising death toll from viral hepatitis. It brought together the hepatitis patient community – represented by attendees from each of the World Hepatitis Alliance’s 200 patient group member organisations – and policy makers.
Commenting from the Summit, Charles Gore, President of the World Hepatitis Alliance said: “The Glasgow Declaration on Viral Hepatitis is an incredibly important step towards the elimination of this disease. Today, leaders from around the world have committed to setting targets towards the elimination of viral hepatitis as a public health threat.”
The Scottish Government has led the world in its structured response to hepatitis C and this week launched its Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Framework 2015 – 2020 Update, to which GCU research in hepatitis C and HIV has contributed significantly.
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