World Hepatitis Alliance President , Michael Ninburg speaks at Australasian viral hepatitis conference .
In action
World Hepatitis Alliance President , Michael Ninburg speaks at Australasian viral hepatitis conference .
WHA President Michael Ninburg addressed the 11th Australasian Viral Hepatitis Conference in August . The conference held at the Adelaide Convention Centre , focussed on the theme “ No One Left Behind ”
Michael used his speech to highlight the low diagnosis rates globally and to speak about the Find the Missing Millions campaign .
“ Viral hepatitis elimination will not be achieved without involving the people and communities who are affected by the epidemics Even if we treated everyone who was diagnosed with viral hepatitis , we would still only be at the tip of the iceberg of the global hepatitis burden because only 1 in 10 people are aware of their illness . Without an increase in diagnosis we won ’ t be able to progress to the next step of elimination . We have parts of the world that are struggling more than others to test and diagnose people , Australia is a notable exception in this .
‘ Find the Missing Millions ’ is a campaign to put patients and the community at the centre of the issue to address the barriers to diagnosis . The first phase of the campaign , launched in 2018 , looked to work with partners and civil society to identify the barriers to diagnosis , Phase two will be looking to work with some of our member states to set up replicable projects that will support countries find the undiagnosed whilst keeping the patient and civil society front and centre of the elimination strategy .
Many Alliance members are working hard to find the missing millions , over the next few years we will be working with them to help grow those projects and gain government backing .
Australia is one of the countries leading the way , in part due to the recognition of the need for access to harm reduction for people who inject drugs . This has been a huge step in the right direction
“ Viral hepatitis elimination will not be achieved without involving the people & communities who are affected by the epidemics ”
6 September 2018 hep Voice