World Hepatitis Day 2023 Summary Report

2023 theme Online impact Global news and announcements Other activities Regional WHD reports

World Hepatitis Day 2023

On 28 July 2023, individuals, organizations, policy makers and governments around the world celebrated World Hepatitis Day (WHD), which is one of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) seven officially-mandated global public health days.

2023 theme: “We’re not waiting”

The theme of World Hepatitis Day 2023 was “We’re not waiting.”

“We’re not waiting”, was a call to accelerate elimination efforts of viral hepatitis now and the urgent need for testing and treatment for the real people who need it.

The campaign amplified the voices of people affected by viral hepatitis calling for immediate action from decision makers globally to prioritize the elimination of viral hepatitis.

Online impact

We undertook a social media and email campaign to announce the new theme, with new social media graphics, posters, films and other assets used to promote the message. Members, partners and stakeholders were encouraged to join the campaign, as well as other creative ways to engage with and support the campaign and raise awareness.

Global news and announcements

WHO launched its “One life, one liver” campaign calling for scaling up testing and treatment for viral hepatitis. Under this theme, WHO highlighted the importance of protecting the liver against hepatitis for living a long, healthy life. Read more here.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus shared a World Hepatitis Day 2023 video statement. Watch it here.
Danjuma Adda, President of World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) joined the WHO webinar with the theme “One Life, One Liver”, to discuss scaling up the testing and treatment of viral hepatitis towards the 2030 elimination goals. Read more here. Danjuma also shared a message for the souvenir of World Hepatitis Day 2023 observation in Bangladesh.
Dr Su Wang, Past-President at the WHA and Danjuma Adda, President of World Hepatitis Alliance, shared “A declaration from people living with hepatitis B: A call for a whole person approach”, in the Journal of Viral Hepatitis 2023. The paper called for hepatitis B treatment to be immediately prioritized.
New research by the Center for Disease Analysis (CDA) Foundation found that hepatitis B and C viruses are highly oncogenic leading to cancers in multiple organs and sites. CDA’s report finds that hepatitis B and C infected individuals “have a similar or significantly higher risk of developing cancer than someone who actively smokes one pack of cigarettes per day.” Read more about the research here.
Hep B United, a national coalition established by the Hepatitis B Foundation and the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) hosted its 11th annual summit in Washington, D.C.  The summit brought together nearly 100 community leaders, advocates, clinicians, federal partners and people living with hepatitis B to discuss strategies and challenges towards eliminating hepatitis B in the U.S. Read more here.
Unitaid, the global health agency, is pioneering urgent solutions to tackle hepatitis C. On WHD, Unitaid announced it is working to ensure life-saving products reach communities where rates of hepatitis C transmission are highest. The agency is investing in integrating treatment delivery systems in vital services to bring information and care closer to populations at risk. Read more here.
Members and MPs from UNITE, the Parliamentarians Network for Global Health showed support for the WHD virtual relay. Hon. Éctor Jaime Ramírez Barba (from Mexico), Hon. Akaki Zoidze (from Georgia) and Hon. Karti Chidambaram (from India) supported WHD on videos shared on social media and hosted on a blogpost on UNITE’s website. Read more here.
Rachel Halford, Chief Executive of the Hepatitis C Trust, gave opening and closing remarks on behalf of the WHA at the WHO EURO WHD webinar around drug policy, monitoring and surveillance within the region.
The Hepatitis C Trust called on UK governments to not miss the target of eliminating hepatitis C in England and Northern Ireland by 2025, in Scotland by 2024/25 and in Wales by 2030. The Hepatitis C Trust used the theme ‘Don’t miss the target.’ Read it here.
The Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination’s (CGHE) Director Dr John Ward joined a PAHO webinar discussing scaling up access to diagnosis and treatment to save lives. Watch it here. CGHE also shared a blog post about the Local Hepatitis Elimination and Prevention Program in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Read more here.
Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General at The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shared a speech for WHD on Africa CDC’s commitment to eliminate viral hepatitis in Africa. Watch it here. Africa CDC and The African Union also shared a WHD blog post on hepatitis awareness and vaccination. Read it here.
The European Liver Patients’ Association (ELPA)’s President Marko Korenjak posted a message on social media highlighting the importance of collaboration between governments, healthcare providers, researchers and patient advocacy groups to tackle the changes posed by hepatitis and liver cancer effectively. Read more here.
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) shared a WHD message around reducing hepatitis C transmission and the barriers to testing and treatment. Read more here.
Queensland’s Health Minister, Shannon Fentiman, shared a video message about the impact hepatitis has on Queensland’s communities and supporting efforts to eliminate hepatitis. Watch the video here.
EASL celebrated WHD by sharing campaign resources on its website as well as a message of gratitude to liver associations supporting WHD. Read more here. EASL also hosted a Studio Policy Dialogue episode spotlighting Hepatitis D, which showcased the policy stakes at the European and global level for liver health. Watch it here.

World Hepatitis Alliance other activities

We’re Not Waiting – Campaign video

The hero campaign video “We’re Not Waiting” launched, which shows people from across the world telling us why we can’t wait for a world without hepatitis. The video has over 92K views on YouTube.

WHA President statement

Our president, Danjuma Adda, shared his World Hepatitis Day statement thanking organizations around the world for their effort to eliminate hepatitis and calling on increased investment to meet the WHO’s 2030 elimination targets. Read Danjuma’s statement here.

WHD Webinar series

‘We’re Not Waiting’ Community Forum

The community forum gave an insight into the many experiences, perspectives and unmet needs of people diagnosed with and living with hepatitis across the world. The panel explored global conversations around eliminating hepatitis by 2030 and why we are not waiting for hepatitis elimination.

The forum offered an open space for people living with hepatitis to share experiences and offer possible solutions to address challenges faced as a result of the disease.

‘We’re not waiting’ – beating hepatitis and cancer together

This panel discussion and Q&A focused on the integration of the hepatitis community and hepatitis services with liver cancer and non-communicable disease programmesNCDs. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is an oncogenic virus that causes liver cancer at the same rate as someone who actively smokes one pack of cigarette per day.

WHA was joined by panelists including Rosie Tasker, Global Advocacy Manager, Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and Milan Mishkovikj, Director, European Liver Patients’ Assocation (ELPA), to discuss how we beat hepatitis and liver cancer together.

World Hepatitis Day 2023 Summary Report