hepVoice Vol.11 | Page 10

Where in the world... Regional Consultation on Viral Hepatitis Control in the WHO African Region Brazzaville, Congo Following the launch of the document “Prevention, Care and Treatment of viral hepatitis in the African Region: Framework for action 2016–2020” in August, Member States in the African Region met in Brazzaville, Congo on 2325 November to discuss ways to tackle viral hepatitis in one of the hardest hit areas of the world. The meeting was attended by WHO European HIV-Hepatitis Testing Week 2016 Now in its fourth year and the second time hepatitis testing has been included, European Regional Director, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, 18 national governments and civil society including WHA. The event showed that clear support for actions towards elimination is now emerging in the region, most notably with the introduction of the birth dose of hep B vaccine, which will be critical for preventing mother to child transmission. HIV-Hepatitis Testing Week took place from 18-25 November. The testing week spanned the length and breadth of the continent with 519 organisations participating from 49 countries. We raised awareness Missed the Twitter chat? Check out the #time2test Storify here. of the week and the importance Global State of Harm Reduction 2016 Did you know that people who inject drugs (PWID) are the group with the highest prevalence of hepatitis C, an estimated 67%? Yet the drive to scale-up needle and syringe programmes (NSP) has stalled since 2014, with no new countries setting up NSP. Released this month, the Global State of Harm Reduction 2016 report illustrates just how much needs to be done to support PWID in order to meet the goal of elimination by 10 hep Voice November/December 2016 of testing for viral hepatitis through our social media channels as well as participating in a Twitter chat along with European Testing Week, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, European AIDS Treatment Group and The Hepatitis B and C Public Policy Association. The chat focused on why people should test for HIV and viral hepatitis and what prevents people from getting tested. 2030. We need to raise awareness and take action on this issue if we are to achieve a world with NOhep! You can read the report, and find infographics to share on social media here. hep Voice November/December 2016 11