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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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World Hepatitis Day 2022
World Hepatitis Day 2022
Each year hundreds of millions of people suffer from chronic or acute liver disease caused by hepatitis viruses, and over one million die. To mark World Hepatitis Day (July 28th) we bring you a selection of MSF research exploring how to better prevent, identify and treat hepatitis infection in lower-income countries and emergency contexts where the burden is heaviest. For example, in a South Sudanese camp for displaced people—a type of setting where poor sanitation and water quality regularly lead to hepatitis E outbreaks—MSF and the Ministry of Health (MoH) are conducting the world’s first reactive vaccination campaign against this disease, and evaluating the process and outcomes. In Cambodia, MSF and MoH collaborators found that a simplified community-based model of care for hepatitis C was safe and highly effective in diagnosing patients and in curing them with new antiviral drugs. It was also cost-effective, according to studies in several countries and patient populations. And these new drugs were safe and effective even in patients also being treated for drug-resistant tuberculosis.
World Refugee Day 2022
World Refugee Day 2022

As we mark World Refugee Day (20 June 2022), over 100 million people globally are forcibly displaced from their home—the highest number ever recorded, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. The health impacts of this displacement are dire: millions of people exposed to violence, infectious disease, and exclusion from health care during often-treacherous journeys or in detention centers and refugee camps.


Here we bring you a selection of MSF research aimed at better understanding and meeting the medical needs of populations along their migration route. Some studies describe the physical and psychological wounds our teams witness among specific populations—from unaccompanied minors to people detained under inhumane conditions in Libya or rescued from drowning after risking everything in perilous Mediterranean Sea crossings. Others assess ways to improve models of care for refugees with chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes, or for tackling infectious diseases such as diphtheria and hepatitis E in overcrowded, unhygienic camps.

TB-PRACTECAL Trial—Evidence for a shorter, safer, more effective treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis
TB-PRACTECAL Trial—Evidence for a shorter, safer, more effect...
Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) remains an especially deadly form of the ancient scourge of TB, while current treatments are long, toxic, and ineffective for half of all patients. Aiming to change this unacceptable status quo, in the mid-2010’s MSF and partners launched three clinical trials to test novel regimens containing the first new TB drugs in decades. On 22 December 2022 the New England Journal of Medicine published findings from TB-PRACTECAL, a three-country randomized controlled trial, showing that a shorter regimen is safer and cured 89% of DR-TB patients, compared with 52% on the standard of care. These findings have already been incorporated into the World Health Organization’s new TB treatment guidelines. A separate study shows that the new regimen is also more cost-effective. Alongside these results the content collection linked below highlights other aspects of the trial, from community engagement strategies that helped shape TB-PRACTECAL to setbacks arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. It also examines urgent challenges in scaling up access to these life-saving drugs, including affordability and patent barriers.
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World Hepatitis Day 2023

World Hepatitis Day 2023