At the 63rd Assembly held earlier this year, World Health Organization (WHO) member states adopted a resolution calling for the World Health Organization to develop a comprehensive approach to the prevention and control of hepatitis, based on an earlier report. Among other recommendations, the members designated July 28th as World Hepatitis Day in order to provide an opportunity for education and greater understanding of viral hepatitis as a global public health problem, and to stimulate the strengthening of preventive and control measures of this disease in Member States. Through September 1st, the World Hepatitis Alliance is accepting applications from potential members.

On July 12, 2010, CalHEP joined Genentech and advocates from around the country to talk about Genentech's new HCV drugs that are in the FDA pipeline; access and patient support services; and development strategies for addressing HCV/HIV co-infection. Read more for an update on financial support for Pegasys.

Oakland Tribune: California lawmakers are mulling whether to extend or expand a state program allowing over-the-counter sales of syringes without a prescription to curb the spread of HIV, hepatitis and other diseases. Without action, such sales will become illegal at this year's end -- and public health authorities suggest that could be a deadly tragedy. The current law, signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004, lets counties choose whether to let pharmacists sell up to 10 syringes to someone without a prescription; it also makes an exception to drug-paraphernalia laws to allow possession of up to 10 syringes if acquired through an authorized source. Every greater Bay Area county except Napa chose to take part in this Disease Prevention Demonstration Project. Contra Costa was first in December 2004, and Santa Clara was last in January 2006. Read the entire article which features CalHEP's policy consultant, Glenn Backes. The story was also covered on KPBS.

New York Times: New medicines are being developed that are expected to transform the care of patients with hepatitis C, making treatment far more effective and far less grueling. The new drugs, which could start reaching the market as early as next year, could help subdue a virus that infects roughly four million Americans, most of them baby boomers, and 170 million people worldwide. Read the entire article, which features CalHEP Steering Committee member, Diana Sylvestre.

Capital Public Radio: A new study shows that 17% of Fresno's Hmong community has Hepatitis B...and most have no idea they are carrying the potentially fatal disease. This story highlights champion kickboxer, Yia Mua, who was diagnosed with liver cancer spurred by Hepatitis B and died six months later. Like one in six in the Fresno Hmong community, Mua contracted the disease, and didn’t even know it.Listen to the story.

Washington Post: A Web site that the Obama administration unveiled Wednesday aims to give everyone the full range of public and private health insurance plans available to them based on their individual circumstances. Users of the site-- healthcare.gov -- will not need to divulge personal information such as their name, address or income. Instead, the site asks a series of questions including age, Zip code, job status and degree of difficulty affording health insurance, then uses a person's answers to produce a detailed list of potential coverage options from among 5,500 private plans as well as the full array of federal and state programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Read the entire article.

Fresno Bee: A study conducted by Dr. Muhammad Y. Sheikh, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the UCSF-Fresno Medical Education Program, found that almost 17% of Hmong in Fresno County have the hepatitis B virus. Infection can damage the liver and lead to cirrhosis. And it's a major cause of liver cancer -- the No. 1 cancer killer of Laotian men in California. Read the entire article .

The National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable released a video with highlights from their World Hepatitis Day Rally on Capitol Hill. Congratulations on a successful event.

Public Health Reports has released a special supplement focusing on the Social Determinants of Health in the on-going battle to prevent and control HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections, and tuberculosis. This supplement covers the constant barriers society faces when fighting and attempting to rectify diseases that have plagued our society for centuries. From economic to cultural to racial obstacles, Public Health Reports examines the “cause and effect” relationships that continue to be the main hindrance to decreasing the spread of these diseases.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) featured an article on the results of California's Adult Hepatitis Vaccine Project. In 2006, when the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that hepatitis B vaccination be offered to all adults as part of routine prevention services in settings where a high proportion of those served are at increased risk, CDC launched a national initiative encouraging states to use existing federal funds to purchase adult hepatitis B--containing (HepB) vaccine. In response, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) established the Adult Hepatitis Vaccine Project (AHVP) to expand hepatitis B vaccination in sites serving at-risk adults. This report summarizes results for 2007--2008, which indicated that 28,824 doses of HepB vaccine were administered at 29 participating sites in the first 19 months of AHVP; 13 sites administered HepB vaccine for the first time. Federal provision of vaccine resulted in vaccination of many adults who otherwise might not have been vaccinated against HBV. Increased capacity to vaccinate all adults at risk is needed for the elimination of HBV transmission in the United States. The project was also featured in a recent MMWR issue. 

Healthwatch - Lawmakers on the House Oversight panel on Thursday urged Congress to quickly pass legislation to boost the detection and treatment of viral hepatitis, the leading cause of liver cancer in the United States. The Oversight and Government Reform Committee held the first hearing in several years on the deadly disease, which disproportionately affects blacks and Asians, and pressed for passage of a bipartisan bill that would boost funding by $600 million over the next five years.

OraSure Technologies, Inc.  announced that its OraQuick(R) Hepatitis C ("HCV") Rapid Antibody Test has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") for use in detecting HCV antibodies in venous whole blood specimens, making it the first rapid HCV test approved by the FDA for use in the United States.

  May 2010 - World Health Organization Resolution on Hepatitis

At the 63rd Assembly, member states adopted a resolution calling for the World Health Organization to develop a comprehensive approach to the prevention and control of hepatitis, based on an earlier report. 

 The World Hepatitis Alliance worked with well-known musicians from around the world to develop an album of songs which was launched on World Hepatitis Day 2010. It includes collaborations by artists of diverse nationalities to represent and reinforce the importance of global co-operation in tackling hepatitis B and C. This Day: World Hepatitis Day is for sale on Amazon and iTunes.

World Hepatitis Alliance members can sell the CDs in their country to raise awareness around World Hepatitis Day. All money they make by selling these CDs can be kept by the organization.

Senator Leland Y. Yee, Ph.D. (D-San Francisco) and Barry Zevin MD, write about the importance of pharmacy sales of syringes to combat the spread of hepatitis C and HIV. Senate Bill 1029 would expand a pilot program that is scheduled to end this year by allowing any pharmacy in the state to sell up to 30 syringes to individuals if the pharmacist desires.

May 2010 - Hepatitis C No Longer "Death Sentence"

Helen Carter from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports on the ability of most cases of hepatitis C to be cured.
Infectious diseases physician Associate Professor Joe Torresi from Melbourne's Austin Hospital Department of Infectious Diseases says emerging treatments could boost overall cure rates to as high as 95%. But unless treatment uptake skyrockets, many will miss out.

 May 2010 - President Obama and Governor Schwarzenegger Release Messages Regarding Hepatitis