PARTICIPANTS FROM MEMBER STATES; REPRESENTATIVES FROM PARTNER AGENCIES AND INSTITUTIONS; COLLEAGUES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
It is a pleasure to welcome you to Manila for this Informal Working Group Meeting on Surveillance, Prevention, and Management of Viral Hepatitis in the Western Pacific Region.
As you know, hepatitis viruses –A, B, C, D and E – all attack the liver and represent a major public health problem globally. Hepatitis B and C are especially deadly, causing four out of five cases of primary liver cancer.
The hepatitis disease burden disproportionately affects the Western Pacific Region. About a quarter of the world's population lives in the Region, yet we are home to half of the chronic hepatitis B cases.
I have seen the suffering caused by chronic hepatitis B first-hand – both on a personal level in family and friends and colleagues, and as Regional Director visiting areas where the problem is especially acute.
I recently visited China – which has the world's highest hepatitis B burden – to initiate a policy dialogue on integrating treatment of that disease into existing health systems.
The good news is that now chronic active hepatitis can be treated. We have medicines like tenofovir, which is used for HIV treatment and costs less than one dollar a day. We have combinations of drugs that can cure hepatitis C with a three-month treatment regimen.
In September 2005, the Western Pacific Region became the first in WHO to adopt a regional goal to reduce hepatitis B in children through increased infant vaccination.
By 2012, more than 80% of Member States had achieved the milestone of less than 2% prevalence of hepatitis B among five-year olds.
The Region used to have a hepatitis B prevalence of 7% among five-year olds. The reduction to 2% means 1 million fewer hepatitis B infections and 300 000 fewer deaths per birth cohort.
I am proud of our leadership and hard work to save lives. But we must do more to end this suffering.
The 2010 World Health Assembly called on WHO to collaborate with Member States to improve surveillance, prevention and control of viral hepatitis.
This year the Executive Board drafted a resolution to accelerate concerted efforts on viral hepatitis prevention, diagnosis and treatment strategies with time-bound goals. The strategy will be presented to the 2014 World Health Assembly in May.
We already know that the Western Pacific Region has the highest burden of hepatitis in the world. With or without a global call to action, we know what needs to be done.
I would like us to push ahead and develop our regional action plan for the surveillance, prevention and management of hepatitis as soon as possible.
We should tailor the plan to the health systems and the epidemic we are facing in the Western Pacific Region. We need your help. You know the situation on the ground. You know the reality.
I am looking forward to hearing the outcomes of this meeting. I hope Member States will propose an agenda item for the 2015 session of the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, which is the Region's governing body.
Finally, I would like to thank United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention for supporting and organizing this important working group meeting with my office.
Again, welcome to the Regional Office. I wish you a successful meeting and a pleasant stay in Manila.