ELPA presents the findings of the 2016 Hep-CORE Report:
Fifty-two per cent (52%) of surveyed European (25) and Mediterranean Basin (2) countries lack national strategies to address viral hepatitis B or C despite the WHO World Health Assembly resolution calling on all countries to have one. Only three of these countries have access to the new, highly effective medicines (direct-acting antivirals) for hepatitis C without restrictions.
These are just two sobering results from the 2016 Hep-CORE Report on the state of viral hepatitis policy and practice in Europe, released by the European Liver Patients Association (ELPA) today.

The data were collected from local specialists in each country. The research team asked one patient group in each of ELPA’s 27 member-country to complete a 39-item survey about various aspects relating to HBV and HCV: overall national response, public awareness and engagement, disease monitoring and data collection, prevention, testing and diagnosis, clinical assessment, and treatment. Another section of the survey asked a set of questions oriented towards understanding hepatitis prevention in each country. This section focused on the availability of harm reduction – services that target the reduction of negative health consequences associated with drug use, such as the spread of viral hepatitis.

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