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.
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Country: Croatia
City: Zagreb
Type: WHD
Croatia - WHD 2011
This year the initiatives in Croatia were aimed at raising awareness about viral hepatitis as a big public health problem that has a social-political dimension related to discrimination and human rights violation. Hence, their campaign highlighted the need for information to combat stigma.
The central event of the Croatian World Hepatitis Day was an awareness raising festivity that took place at the Zrce beach (Pag Island) organized by the group Hepatos. The well-known popularity of the Zrce beach among young people during the summer was the main factor behind this choice.
As a part of this initiative, counselling and free/anonymous hepatitis C testing were available at the Red Cross tent. Dr. Antoinette Kaic-Rak, head of WHO Croatia Country Office, and Prof. Dr. Adriana Vince, head of the Referral Centre for Viral Hepatitis, were at the event showing their support.
Aside from the beach initiative, several other activities were held in Croatia, such as a symposium in Zagreb and information days in Krizevci, Durdevac and Koprivnica. Additionally, Hepatos sent over 650 letters to Members of the Croatian Parliament, the National Institutes of Public Health, hepatologists, government representatives, decision makers and the media aiming to focus their attention on World Hepatitis Day.
Furthermore, Hepatos Rijeka organised a local media campaign in the Rijeka and Primorsko-goranska county with the cooperation of local TV stations ‘Kanal RI’ and ‘Ri TV’ as well as the local newspaper “Novi list”. They informed people about World Hepatitis Day and invited everyone for free and anonymous hepatitis B and C testing.
