Today is World Hepatitis Day, #WHD21. Every year on 28th July, civil society organisations, among many others, call on people from across the world to take action and raise awareness of hepatitis. This year’s campaign is another valid point, also acclaimed by WHO: #HepatitisCantWait.

With a person dying every 30 seconds from a hepatitis-related illness, people affected by hepatitis cannot wait to end stigma and discrimination especially now that the current #COVID19 crisis negatively affected hepatitis testing and treatment, leaving many more people unaware and unassisted.
How can health inclusion be exempt from agendas, one wonders?

According to our Monitoring Report 2020, persistent stigmatisation and restrictive policies towards drug use are some of the roughest feeders of deprived, vulnerable communities.
How can countries wait for further harmful facts whilst an inclusive continuum of health care guarantees stronger and more equal societies? 

National guidelines for HCV testing and treatment must include people who use drugs (PWUD) as well as people who inject drugs (PWID) and must allow for low threshold and community-based care to positively impact a #HepFreeFuture states the Monitoring Report 2020 Executive Summary.
How can governments wait to trigger more inclusive health regulations?

Our 2019 briefing paper “HCV in People Who Use Drugs: results from civil society monitoring in Europe” concluded that the main barriers to address HCV among PWID include a lack of funding, knowledge, awareness, dedicated health workers, political support in general, as well as weakness of CSOs and legal barriers.
How can the hands of European Health NGOs’ be tied with existential struggles; shouting #BringBackOperatingGrants whilst #EU4HealthNGOs is the obvious path to take?

The ongoing pandemic has proven all healthcare gaps to remain resolutely in place. If we are to #EliminateHepatitis by 2030, we urgently need to focus on community-led and community-based preventions, #HealthInclusion, testing and treatment.

Let us work collectively for a future where hepatitis was a joke of the past.
Visit worldhepatitisday.org and see how you can get involved for such a future.
Because #HepatitisCantWait, neither should we.