Scientific Organising Committee
- Alessio Aghemo (MD, PhD), Italy
- Jason Grebely, Australia
- Francesco Negro, Switzerland
Description
Globally, morbidity and mortality due to HCV infection continues to rise. However, the availability of simple and tolerable DAA therapies for HCV infection with cure rates >90% is one of the greatest medical advances in decades. This has brought considerable optimism to people working in HCV. The WHO has set an ambitious goal to eliminate HCV as a major public health threat by 2030. Between 2015 and 2030, the WHO targets include reducing new HCV infections by 80%, and the number of HCV deaths by 65%, and increasing HCV diagnoses to 90% and the number of eligible persons receiving HCV treatment from to 80%. The ambitious targets for HCV elimination set by WHO are achievable in many countries globally, but will require researchers, healthcare providers, policy makers, the pharmaceutical industries, and governments around the world to work together to make this happen.
The aim of this EASL Monothematic Conference is to bring together major stakeholders in the field of HCV to combine expertize of scientists, clinicians, regulatory agencies and the pharmaceutical industry to understand the burden of HCV, strategies to enhance prevention, testing, linkage to care and treatment, and current progress and future directions for working towards the WHO goal of eliminating HCV as a major public health threat by 2030.
Central issues that will be addressed include:
- The epidemiology and prevention of HCV infection
- Interventions to improve linkage of patients to HCV testing, care, and treatment
- Treatment of HCV infection
- Settings to facilitate HCV elimination
- How far are we from reaching the WHO targets of HCV elimination?
- The challenge of post-SVR management
Welcome Message
It is our pleasure to welcome you to the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Monothematic Conference entitled “Striving towards the elimination of HCV infection” which will take place in Berlin, Germany on February 02-03, 2018.
Although morbidity and mortality due to HCV infection are still significant, simple and safe direct-acting antiviral-based therapies for HCV infection, with cure rates >95%, are now available. This is indeed one of the greatest medical advances in decades that has brought considerable optimism to people working in the field of viral hepatitis.
At the same time, however, the WHO has set an ambitious goal to eliminate HCV as a major public health threat by 2030. Between 2015 and 2030, the WHO targets include reducing new HCV infections by 80%, and the number of HCV deaths by 65%, and increasing HCV diagnoses to 90% and the number of eligible persons receiving HCV treatment from to 80%. These targets are quite ambitious. In fact, it has become evident how access to care is still a formidable challenge globally, due to a variety of reasons: inefficient screening strategies, poor retention in care, lack of awareness, inadequate commitment of policy makers, and cost of medications are among the existing barriers to eliminate HCV as a global health threat. Thus, to achieve the WHO goals will require a combined effort of researchers, healthcare providers, policy makers, the pharmaceutical industries, and governments around the world.
The aim of this EASL Monothematic Conference is to bring together major stakeholders in the field of HCV to combine expertise of scientists, clinicians, regulatory agencies and the pharmaceutical industry to understand the burden of HCV, strategies to enhance prevention, testing, linkage to care and treatment, and current progress and future directions for working towards the WHO goal of eliminating HCV. Central issues that will be addressed during this meeting include:
- The epidemiology and prevention of HCV infection
- Interventions to improve linkage of patients to HCV testing, care, and treatment
- Treatment of HCV infection
- Settings to facilitate HCV elimination
- How far are we from reaching the WHO targets of HCV elimination?
- The challenge of post-SVR management
We look forward to welcoming you to Berlin for this exciting scientific event.
Sincerely,
The Scientific Committee
Why attend?
- Latest advances in hepatitis C management
- Sessions dedicated to patient treatment and public health challenges
- 3 days of exciting discussions and debates on achieving HCV elimination
Who should attend?
- Hepatologists
- General practitioners with an interest in hepatitis C
- Public health professionals
- Clinical researchers
- Health professionals
- Young researchers and trainees
- Industry
Topics to be covered
- Epidemiology
- Strategies for improved HCV testing and diagnosis
- Management of acute and chronic HCV infection
- HCV treatment and treatment failures
- The means to reach the WHO targets for HCV elimination
- The challenge of post-SVR management
Help us to inform the liver community by downloading the poster, printing it and placing it on your institute's notice board or forwarding it to your local network:
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