Press release Public Health Switzerland and Hepatitis Switzerland
Scientists Harvey J. Alter, Charles M. Rice and Michael Houghton were today awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. Thanks to their work, the disease is curable today, some 40 years later. Switzerland aims to eliminate the viral disease. Until then, there are still some hurdles to overcome.
Hepatitis B and C cause a high burden of disease. In Switzerland, too, more than 200 people die of viral hepatitis every year. This corresponds to the number of annual road deaths. Hepatitis B and C are the main cause of liver cancer and liver transplants in Switzerland.
Elimination possible
Hepatitis C is curable today: the latest therapies achieve cure in over 98 percent of cases in just eight to twelve weeks. The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to eliminate viral hepatitis on a global scale by 2030. The Swiss hepatitis strategy pursues the same goal for Switzerland and has worked with experts to develop corresponding elimination targets.
To achieve these goals, gaps in testing, vaccination and treatment would have to be closed. “There is a particular need for action in education, even in the healthcare system,” says Philip Bruggmann, President of Hepatitis Switzerland. This requires coordinated activities by all players.
Integration into the National HIV Program
The main transmission routes and risk groups for hepatitis are very similar to those for HIV. For this reason, the professional associations Hepatitis Switzerland and Public Health Switzerland are calling for viral hepatitis to be integrated into the successor program to the National Program HIV and Other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (NPHS), which expires in 2021. A National Program on Sexually and Blood-borne Diseases could achieve the elimination of these two dangerous infectious diseases in a resource-saving manner by 2030. The demand has been taken up by politicians: A motion to this effect by Damian Müller, member of the Council of States, was accepted by parliament.
Public Health Switzerland is the independent, national organization representing public health concerns. The association is committed to creating optimal conditions for the health of the population in Switzerland and provides professional support to decision-makers.
Hepatitis Switzerland maintains a competence network on viral hepatitis in Switzerland with a focus on public health. The non-profit association comments on questions in the field of viral hepatitis and carries out its own projects.
Public symposium
Swiss Hepatitis Symposium 2020
Elimination 2030 – 10 years to go. The importance of data and politics
30 November 2020, 13.30 – 18 h, University of Zurich