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World Hepatitis Day 2023 | Collections | MSF Science Portal

Viral hepatitis is a major cause of disease and death globally. To mark World Hepatitis Day (July 28th) we present a selection of recent MSF research exploring how to effectively deploy powerful medical tools that could turn the tide on hepatitis C and E—but now reach only a tiny fraction of people who desperately need them, especially in low-resource and emergency settings.

For hepatitis C, where groundbreaking new antiviral drugs can cure nearly all patients, MSF is piloting simplified, community-based models of care that offer rapid screening, diagnosis, and treatment under one roof. Some programs focus on the complex needs of highly vulnerable, hard-to-reach populations, such as people co-infected with HIV or TB or who inject drugs.

Turning to prevention, an ongoing vaccination campaign against hepatitis E in an outbreak setting is showing early signs of short-term protection. Final results from this South Sudanese refugee camp, where poor sanitation and water quality regularly lead to outbreaks, should help plug a key evidence gap that—along with other barriers discussed in a commentary article—impedes widespread uptake of the vaccine.

Collection Content

Conference Material
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Abstract

Safety of hepatitis E vaccination in pregnancy following the first mass reactive vaccination campaign in Bentiu, South Sudan

Nesbitt RC
2023-06-08 • Epicentre Scientific Day Paris 2023
2023-06-08 • Epicentre Scientific Day Paris 2023
BACKGROUND
Hepatitis E causes high mortality among pregnant women with case fatality risks of 10-25%, and adverse fetal outcomes. Hecolin® is a safe and efficacious vaccine against H...
Conference Material
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Slide Presentation

Two-dose vaccine effectiveness following the first reactive mass vaccination campaign against Hepatitis E in Bentiu, South Sudan

Nesbitt RC, Rumunu J, Asilaza VK, Gitahi P, Nkemenang P,  et al.
2023-06-07 • MSF Scientific Day International 2023
2023-06-07 • MSF Scientific Day International 2023
Journal Article
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Research

Nurse-led initiation of hepatitis C care in rural Cambodia

O’Keefe D, Samley K, Bunreth V, Marquardt T, Bobi SE,  et al.
2023-04-01 • Bulletin of the World Health Organization
2023-04-01 • Bulletin of the World Health Organization
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether a nurse-led model of care for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections can provide safe and effective diagnosis and treatment in a resource-poo...
Journal Article
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Research

Hepatitis C treatment program in Maputo, Mozambique, the challenge of genotypes and key populations: A 5-year retrospective analysis of routine programmatic data

Loarec A, Gutierrez AG, Muvale G, Couto AM, Nguyen AP,  et al.
2023-03-30 • Health Science Reports
2023-03-30 • Health Science Reports
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Hepatitis C (HCV) programs face challenges, especially linked to key populations to achieve World Health Organization (WHO) goals of eliminating hepatitis. Médeci...
Journal Article
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Research

A simplified point-of-service model for hepatitis C in people who inject drugs in South Africa

Saayman E, Hechter V, Kayuni N, Sonderup MW
2023-03-04 • Harm Reduction Journal
2023-03-04 • Harm Reduction Journal

BACKGROUND

Globally, 9% of people who inject drugs (PWID), a key hepatitis C-infected population, reside in sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa, hepatitis C seroprevalence in PW...

Journal Article
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Research

Epidemiological characteristics and real-world treatment outcomes of hepatitis C among HIV/HCV co-infected patients in Myanmar: A prospective cohort study

Swe TM, Johnson DC, Mar HT, Thit P, Homan T,  et al.
2023-02-17 • Health Science Reports
2023-02-17 • Health Science Reports
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
In Myanmar, public sector treatment programs for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection were nonexistent until June 2017. WHO highlights the importance of simplificati...
Journal Article
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Commentary

Hepatitis E vaccine—Illuminating the barriers to use

Lynch JA, Lim JK, Asaga PEP, Wartel TA, Marti M,  et al.
2023-01-05 • PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
2023-01-05 • PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Journal Article
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Research

Integrating hepatitis C treatment into multidrug-resistant TB care

Kirakosyan O, Melikyan N, Falcao J, Khachatryan N, Atshemyan H,  et al.
2022-06-21 • Public Health Action
2022-06-21 • Public Health Action
BACKGROUND
Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are not widely used for patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and multidrug- or rifampicin-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB). We d...

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TB Union Conference 2022
TB Union Conference 2022
Innovation in preventing, diagnosing and treating drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) cannot come fast enough—especially given the ground lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and with only 1 in 3 people who have DR-TB now receiving care. The content collection linked below offers a snapshot of recent TB work by MSF and collaborators to help change this picture. The TB-PRACTECAL and endTB studies have delivered clear evidence for shorter, safer, more effective treatments against drug-resistant (DR)-TB. Faced with the many hurdles that lie ahead before these and other critical interventions can be widely accessible, other studies investigate patient/family-based models of care adapted to complex settings and neglected groups, including children. Last, several authors explore limited but potentially important options for expanding diagnosis and preventive treatment.
International Safe Abortion Day 2022
International Safe Abortion Day 2022
Unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal death, and the only one that is completely preventable. Yet over 30 million unsafe abortions occur each year, leading to at least 28,000 deaths and millions of serious complications—nearly all in low- and middle-income countries. MSF teams see these tragic consequences first-hand, treating thousands of patients every year with severe, potentially life-threatening effects from unsafe abortion. So in 2016 we launched a program to systematically implement safe abortion care (SAC), starting with ten pilot sites and then applying the lessons learned to scale up at projects across the globe. This Collection presents highlights of these efforts. Since our first publication on the need to provide SAC as a way of reducing maternal death and injury, several studies assessed the role of unsafe abortion in driving this suffering in specific contexts. Others described internal obstacles to providing SAC, operational solutions developed, and outcomes achieved. And we advocated for shifting towards community-led and self-managed SAC, particularly given new obstacles that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Neglected tropical diseases in 2023
Neglected tropical diseases in 2023

Each year hundreds of thousands of people die from a neglected tropical disease, while many more suffer serious illness or lifelong disability. Yet as we mark World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Day on 30th January 2023, global progress towards eliminating these diseases is threatened by shifting global health priorities and declining investment in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.


The content collection linked below offers a snapshot of MSF’s work over the past two years on managing some of the most deadly NTDs, finding better tools and models of care for highly affected populations, and advocating for greater access to care and increased global funding. Several authors describe our programs and lessons learned from a decade of treating snakebite victims in sub-Saharan Africa. Two studies evaluate shorter, less toxic treatment for visceral leischmaniasis, while a policy analysis proposes critical steps towards eliminating this horrific disease in East Africa. Last, reports from Sokoto, Nigeria describe the collaborative development of a comprehensive model of care for noma.

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World Hepatitis Day 2023

World Hepatitis Day 2023