World Hepatitis Day Initiatives
The World Hepatitis Alliance supports campaigners and patient organisations around the world to help make a difference to the lives of the millions of people living with viral hepatitis and to prevent new infections. To find out more on what is going on in your country, use the map below to find local organisations, World Hepatitis Day initiatives and other initiatives.
You can also look at our ‘Wall of Stories’ and submit your own personal experience of living with hepatitis or find other community resources including an Online Scrapbook and our latest Newsletters. The This is hepatitis... blog features bloggers from around the world talking about their experiences with hepatitis.
Name:
Org:
Country: Colombia
City: Santafé de Bogotá
Type: WHD
Colombia - WHD 2011
This year, the Asociación Colombiana de enfermos Hepáticos y Renales and the Asociación Colombia Saludable worked together to mark World Hepatitis Day (WHD) calling for specific measures to fight chronic hepatitis in Colombia, for example extending the coverage of hepatitis B vaccination and its integration into national immunization programs. In the aftermath of the campaign, civil society called for the Colombian Government to respond to this ‘SOS’ and recognize hepatitis as an important public health problem. Additionally, Gonzalo Guevara, president of the Asociación Colombiana de Hepatología (Colombian Association of Hepatology) disclosed some alarming data about the increase of hepatitis B prevalence in the last five years amongst young individuals between 15 and 30 years old, which emphasised the need for vaccination against hepatitis B.
In support of WHD, the national health system of Colombia (EPS) started an initiative named ‘Infórmate contra la Hepatitis’ (Get informed about hepatitis) aiming to raise awareness of chronic hepatitis - the Social Welfare Fund of Communications delivered the campaign throughout the country highlighting prevention measures. Furthermore, the Health Department of Huila organised a conference to inform health care workers about chronic hepatitis and bring their attention to several issues such as strengthening prevention, extending hepatitis B vaccination and coordinating a global approach to tackle hepatitis.
Finally, Doctor Luis Gerardo Castellanos from the Pan-American Health Organisation stressed the importance of WHD to raise awareness of the serious problem the community faces and to bring this issue to the attention of decision makers as well as health institutions.
