Compendium of good practices in the health sector response to viral hepatitis in the WHO European Region (2020)

2020, viii + 112 pages
ISBN 9789289055161
This publication is only available online.

At the 66th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in September 2016, all 53 Member States endorsed resolution EUR/RC66/R10, on the Action Plan for the Health Sector Response to Viral Hepatitis in the WHO European Region. The action plan guides Member States in accelerating their response to the viral hepatitis epidemic. Its goals and targets are in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the WHO Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis, 2016–2021.

The goal of the action plan is the elimination of viral hepatitis as a public health threat in the European Region by 2030 through the reduction of transmission of hepatitis viruses and of the morbidity and mortality due to viral hepatitis and its complications, and by ensuring equitable access to comprehensive prevention and recommended testing, care and treatment services for all.

In line with implementation of the action plan, the WHO Regional Office for Europe launched an official call for good practices on viral hepatitis in May 2019. National health authorities, intraregional programmes, national technical focal points and programmes, civil society organizations (CSOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) responding to the epidemic were invited to submit exemplary practices. The narratives were collected over six months from May to November 2019, compiled and evaluated against predefined criteria, and technically reviewed by WHO experts in the Regional Office.

This compendium includes 34 practice examples from 18 Member States in the European Region authored by various actors in the collective response to viral hepatitis, including government and national viral hepatitis programmes, academia and public health institutes/research institutes and NGOs and CSOs.