10 September 2019

The World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) and the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC) announced a new partnership today on the first day of theFast-Track Cities 2019 conference in London. The conference is convening more than 750 delegates from a network of more than 300 Fast-Track Cities striving to end urban HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and viral hepatitis epidemics.

“Our partnership with the World Hepatitis Alliance will support Fast-Track Cities in addressing the public health threat posed by hepatitis B and hepatitis C,” said IAPAC President/CEO Dr. José M. Zuniga. “In the era of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals, we have an obligation to work with our colleagues across health conditions.

We are honored to formally join with the World Hepatitis Alliance to reach our mutual goal of ending hepatitis-related deaths among people living with HIV and, ultimately, achieving hepatitis B and hepatitis C elimination.”

World Hepatitis Alliance CEO Cary James signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) alongside IAPAC’s Dr. Zuniga during a ceremony at the Fast-Track Cities 2019 conference today at the Barbican Centre in London. The conference, which features panels and presentations from researchers, community advocates, and elected officials, will run through to Wednesday, September 11, 2019.

“We are excited to join with the Fast-Track Cities initiative to accelerate and strengthen cities’ responses to viral hepatitis, a disease which claims 1.4 million lives each year,” said WHA's Cary James. “We have the tools needed to eliminate viral hepatitis, but a key challenge is finding the 290 million people who are unaware that they are living with viral hepatitis. Up-scaling diagnoses will be the cornerstone to cities’ hepatitis responses. If we find the missing millions and link them to treatment, we can eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030.”

The MOU affirms a commitment between IAPAC and the World Hepatitis Alliance to joint advocacy, awareness-raising, capacity-building, and other activities in support of the goal of eliminating hepatitis B and hepatitis C by 2030.

Find out more about the partnership and IAPAC here