Shri Om Birla Ji, Hon’ble Speaker of the Lok Sabha; His Excellency, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Minister of Health and Family Welfare; Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Minister of Law and Justice, Hon’ble Member of Parliament; Shri Vijay Kumar Dev, Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi and Chairman, ILBS; Dr. S K Sarin, Director, ILBS; Shri Arvind Singh,
A very good morning to all.
It is a pleasure to join you for this second Empathy Conclave to mark World Hepatitis Day.
The theme of this year’s celebration – achieving a hepatitis-free future – underscores two points that I take this opportunity to reflect on.
First, that countries in the WHO South-East Asia Region – including India – are better positioned than ever to make steady progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal target of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
Almost all countries have now developed and are implementing national strategic plans that provide key guidance on hepatitis testing and treatment, and blood and injection safety.
All countries have at least three doses of hepatitis B vaccine in their national immunization schedule, with the Region achieving a 91% coverage rate.
India was the first country in the Region to develop and begin implementing a comprehensive national hepatitis plan, under which all public facilities provide free hepatitis B and C testing and treatment.
Notably, India achieved this using domestic resource allocations alone.
To ensure commensurate funding and staffing are available as India scales up services to prevent, test and treat hepatitis, such buy-in must be sustained.
It has been inspiring to witness India produce and mass procure direct-acting antiviral drugs that can cure most cases of hepatitis C with a simple 12-24-week course.
Whereas the cost of a single course of direct-acting antivirals once ran into the thousands, it has now come down to as low as US$ 40 per patient.
India provides a positive example that all countries in the Region can – and should – follow to ensure access for all to effective hepatitis treatment.
The second point I want to highlight is the many opportunities we have to accelerate progress.
Yes, all people infected with hepatitis B and C must have access to quality treatment, but they must first have access to point-of-care testing at all levels of the health system.
Across the Region, less than 10% of the estimated 49 million people with hepatitis B or C are aware of their status.
Finding the “missing millions” must continue to be a top priority to avoid disease progression and the morbidity and mortality it is responsible for.
To this end, the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions today launched a set of 17 training modules that will help health workers at all levels screen, diagnose and treat hepatitis B and C.
The 17 modules are being published electronically, on both WHO SEARO and WPRO websites, to promote maximum access and uptake.
New WHO guidance on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B will help all countries achieve the triple elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B.
To effectively leverage these resources, we must engage and empower communities.
Mobilizing affected and key populations at higher risk, enhancing treatment literacy, and encouraging community-level monitoring of services are all priority interventions.
So too must be acknowledging and countering stigma, which is responsible for demand and supply-side service barriers.
I take this opportunity to thank Shri Amitabh Bachchan for his outstanding service as a WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in the South-East Asia Region, which he has passionately provided since 2017. I wish him and his family a speedy recovery and good health.
I am pleased that India has secured unprecedented buy-in to eliminating hepatitis a public health threat by 2030, and urge all stakeholders to sustain and accelerate momentum as together we continue the battle against COVID-19.
I wish you an inspiring and engaging World Hepatitis Day.
Thank you.