On 19 May, EASL co-hosted with the European Liver Patients Association (ELPA) an event on the occasion of 3rd World Hepatitis Day at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, supported by MEPs Alojz Peterle (EPP, SL) and Thomas Ulmer (EPP, DE). Besides a policy discussion with high-level speakers from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Institute of Medicine (IOM), EASL and ELPA offered free liver testing, which over 200 people took part in, including the President of the European Parliament, Prof. Jerzy Buzek (EPP, PL). At the event, EASL reinforced its commitment to raising hepatitis on the European health agenda, as it endorsed a call to action on viral hepatitis.
Just two days after the event, on 21 May, the 63rd World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted a resolution on Viral Hepatitis. This endorsement by member states calls for the WHO to develop a comprehensive approach to the prevention and control of viral hepatitis. This adoption arrives three years after the adoption of the European Parliament's Written Declaration on Hepatitis C, when leading health experts MEPs Alojz Peterle and Thomas Ulmer called upon the European Commission and Council to finally take up the fight and promote risk group specific screening by adopting a Council Recommendation on viral hepatitis. These milestones are an encouraging sign of commitments to prioritise hepatitis and huge steps in the fight against a disease which can lead to liver cancer.
