7 December 2021 | 10:00 – 12:30 CET | High-level virtual event
At the event, it was disscussed how EU policy and funding measures can advance the elimination of viral hepatitis B and C in Europe and beyond, with a high-level panel of speakers from WHO Europe, the European Commission – DG SANTE, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).
As emphasised by the ECDC and WHO on World Hepatitis Day 2021, the elimination of hepatitis by 2030 is still feasible but only if the gaps in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and lack of reliable national data are urgently addressed. Whilst he ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these gaps, it has also shown how much we can achieve in the fight against communicable diseases when we act acoordinated.
Speakers included:
- Dr. Siddhartha Datta, Acting Director for Communicable Diseases, Country Health Programme Division, WHO Regional Office for Europe
- John F. Ryan, Deputy Director for Public Health Directorate, DG SANTE, European Commission
- Alexis Goosdeel, Director, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)
- Dr. Cristian-Silviu Busoi MEP, former rapporteur on EU4Health, EPP, Romania
- Dr. Erika Duffell, Principal Expert Hepatitis, STI, Bloodborne Viruses, DPR at European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
- Professor Markus Cornberg, Deputy Director of Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School
- Maria Georgescu, Executive Director of the Romanian Anti-SIDA Association (ARAS)
- Dr. Sandrine François and Céline Rigaud, Limoges University Hospital
- Professor Thomas Berg, Secretary General of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), Head of the Division of Hepatology, Leipzig University Medical Center