World Hepatitis Day, celebrated on July 28 every year, is an opportunity to step up national and international efforts to encourage actions and engagement by individuals and the public and to highlight the need for a more focused approach to combat and eradicate Hepatitis.

Viral Hepatitis remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide and a huge gap persists in Pakistan, regarding the lack of awareness about this disease.

The VFAHT National Council planned a 3-week long campaign from July 8, leading up to World Hepatitis Day on July 28, involving its 16 local Councils, and focused on different aspects of Hepatitis with a variety of activities.

The campaign comprised of:

• More than 30 infographics
• A poster competition
• Multiple Webinars
• Story sharing series
• 4-day Workshop series
• A grand Quiz Competition

The infographics served as a mode to spread information about the different types of Hepatitis, covering different aspects like pathophysiology, epidemiology, prevention, and treatment.

A poster competition dedicated to Hepatitis Awareness was also conducted using the hashtag #VFightHepatitis. An enthusiastic response was seen as participants submitted extremely creative and informative E-posters and handmade posters. Exciting cash prizes were awarded to the winners and announcements were made on the VFAHT-CMC Facebook Page.

The Local Councils at AKU, FJMU, STMU, RMU, and FMH signed up for the ‘Combatting Hepatitis with the World Health Organization- Policy Reform Session’. Each team had 5-8 people whose hard work was eminent from their comprehensive and eloquent presentations. The participants laid out local and global statistical data and identify areas of lacking, related to the various points identified by the World Health Organization where there is a gap that needs to be bridged to achieve Hepatitis elimination. They also presented some extraordinary suggestions that need to be implemented to ensure the elimination of Hepatitis from Pakistan.

Moreover, three very well planned and interactive webinars were conducted by the Local Councils at UOL-UCMD, DGKMC, and AMDC. Renowned speakers were invited to give talks and we’re extremely grateful for the knowledge and information they shared about Hepatitis.

‘My Hepatitis Story’ was an innovative activity in which daily inspiring stories were shared by Hepatitis survivors which not only encouraged people to learn more about the disease but gave hope that fighting Hepatitis is possible and extremely crucial.

To know more about the Workshops, read our newsletter by clicking on this link

The campaign was wrapped up by a Grand Quiz Competition which tested the knowledge imparted during this entire campaign and received a very positive response and the majority of the participants scoring high.

Overall, VFAHT was able to reach thousands of people, both from the medical community and the general public and we hope that more people will be sensitized to this health issue and will be directed to take the right steps.