Asia and Pacific Alliance to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis (APAVH)
The Asian Liver Center is currently working with the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create a global hepatitis B initiative.The Asia and Pacific Alliance to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis (APAVH) is a sustainable global coalition to eliminate the transmission of viral hepatitis, and reduce the complications of chronic viral hepatitis through advocacy, education, vaccination and treatment, and by sharing best practices and development of regional and country-specific goals, and to promote the implementation of WHO regional recommendations.
The goals of APAVH are...
- To reduce chronic hepatitis B virus infection prevalence globally to less than 2% in children 0-15 years of age by the year 2015 (by improving and expanding hepatitis B immunization programs.
- To increase access to chronic HBV testing and antiviral treatment worldwide to reduce transmission rates and disease mortality and morbidity.
- To reduce the blood-borne transmission of hepatitis B.
- To advocate for the elimination of discriminatory practices against persons with chronic viral hepatitis in the school and in the workplace.
- To build program sustainability through regional and national hepatitis B advocacy and increased awareness.
APAVH seeks to create a new sustainable regional coalition to prevent new infections and reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with chronic hepatitis B through education, advocacy, vaccination, and treatment. This regional coalition will be a multi-disciplinary alliance of government agencies, public health practitioners, foundations, policymakers, academia, scientists, patient and advocacy groups, legal professionals, corporations, and the pharmaceutical industry. By focusing on the 41 countries in the Western Pacific and South- East Asia regions that account for 76% of the global burden of chronic HBV infection, APAVH will spearhead the development and advocate for the adoption of comprehensive policies that will ultimately lead to the global elimination of chronic hepatitis B infection. APAVH will serve as a model for replication and expansion to form a comprehensive global initiative.
Recently, global health leaders convened in San Francisco on Sunday, November 2, 2008 for the inangural Partners' Meeting of the Asia and Pacific Alliance to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis (APAVH). View Press Release [English]. View Press Release [Chinese]. Furthermore, Vice Health Minister Zhang Mao announced Thursday, June 18, 2009 at a teleconference that the Chinese government will further expand its free Hepatitis B vaccination program to cover children under 15 years old who have not been vaccinated against the disease.
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5/7/09, Dr. So with WPRO Regional Director Dr. Shin Young-soo in Manila, Philippines. |
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5/7/09, Dr. So with Repuiblic of the Philippines Senator Pia Cayetano, who spearheaded the Hepatitis B Bill in the Philippines. |
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5/7/09, Dr. So and Alena Groopman, Global Health Coordinator, met with the Western Pacific Regional Office of the World Health Organization in Manila, Philippines. |
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11/26/08, Dr. So met with the ZeShan Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative Asia to discuss the Asia and Pacific Alliance to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis (APAVH). The ZeShan Foundation announced its $4 million commitment to APAVH at the Clinton Global Initiative Meeting in Hong Kong on December 2, 2008. In photo: Carola Barton, CGI Asia, Dr. Samuel So, Asian Liver Center, Laura Chen, ZeShan Foundation, and Nora Tong, ZeShan Foundation. |
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11/2/08, APAVH Inangural Partners' Meeting in San Francisco, CA. |
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3/11/08, World Health Organization, Geneva. Dr. So met to discuss the progress, gaps, opportunities and challenges in eliminating hepatitis B worldwide with Ms. Daisy Mafubelu, Assistant Director General, Family and Community Health (wearing LIVERight jade ribbon bracelet), Dr. J.M. Okwobele, Director, Dept of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, Dr. Craig Shapiro, Medical Officer, Dept of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, and Dr. Steven T. Wiersma, Associate Director for Science and Global Activities, Division of Viral Hepatitis, CDC (not shown in photo). |
APAVH Partners
ZeShan Foundation
The ZeShan Foundation, based in Hong Kong, aspires to be a catalyst and a leveraged force in proactive giving and engaged philanthropy. ZeShan seeks solutions to social ills in the hope of making a long-term impact on society and creating meaningful differences to their beneficiaries. The ZeShan Foundation helps the needy to achieve self-sufficiency to reduce gaps between haves and have-nots and empower those they support through capacity building. The Asian Liver Center is fortunate to have the ZeShan Foundation as a supportive and dedicated to partner in the fight against hepatitis B and liver cancer. The ZeShan Foundation was an active partner in the Qinghai Catch-up Vaccination Project from 2006-2008. At the Clinton Global Initiative Meeting in Hong Kong on December 2, 2008, the ZeShan Foundation announced its generous commitment to the Asia and Pacific Alliance to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis (APAVH). View Clinton Foundation Press Release. View Commitment to Action.
Ping and Amy Chao Foundation
The Ping and Amy Chao Foundation was founded in California’s Silicon Valley in 2005 by Ping Chao and his wife Amy Chao. It was established exclusively for charitable purposes. The foundation aims to fund and nurture initiatives improving the health and well-being of children and youth in economically disadvantaged regions throughout the world; promoting the spirit of philanthropy and developing awareness of non-profit practices and opportunities for service for the younger generation of China and the greater Chinese community. The Asian Liver Center is fortunate to have the Ping and Amy Chao Foundation as a supportive and dedicated to partner in the fight against hepatitis B and liver cancer. The Ping and Amy Chao Foundation was an active partner in the Qinghai Catch-up Vaccination Project from 2006-2008. The Foundation has also pledged to become an APAVH Partner.
For more on the Jade Ribbon Campaign and the Asian Liver Center's global work, click here.
