AbbVie, Gilead Sciences and GSK marked World Hepatitis Day on Monday, outlining the need to tackle the stigma and discrimination associated with the group of viruses to eliminate them as a public health problem.
The World Health Organization is aiming to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health problem by 2030. On LinkedIn, AbbVie unpacked what the goal means for patients, explaining the potential to avert 1.5 million deaths from hepatitis C over the next decade. The post features a snippet from World Hepatitis Alliance President Rachel Halford, who said, “It needs to happen now. We’re running out of time.”
GSK and Gilead, meanwhile, identified stigma and discrimination as forces that could hinder elimination efforts. On Instagram, GSK quoted data showing that up to 20% of people with chronic hepatitis B fear being denied healthcare because of their condition. The company described hepatitis B as a silent virus that could be secretly taking a toll on a person’s body and mind without noticeable symptoms.
Gilead took to LinkedIn to make the case that while ending viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030 is possible, stigma and discrimination remain obstacles to making this a reality. The post featured a video about Mardon, who is living with hepatitis B and D, to raise awareness and help remove barriers to care.
The focus on stigma and discrimination is aligned with research by the World Hepatitis Alliance, which found these forces are key barriers to tackling the pathogens. The group adopted the tagline “Let’s break it down” for this year’s World Hepatitis Day—which is sponsored by AbbVie, Gilead and GSK—to reflect the focus on tackling the financial, social and systemic barriers to diagnosis and treatment.
Specific goals of the awareness day include ending the stigma for people living with hepatitis, ensuring no one is left behind and giving everyone the knowledge and understanding to make informed choices about hepatitis testing, treatment and vaccination.
GlobalData analysts said key opinion leaders see low diagnosis and treatment rates, inadequate access to care and a lack of curative therapies as the biggest unmet needs in hepatitis.
The analysts named GSK’s antisense oligonucleotide bepirovirsen as a drug candidate that could provide a functional cure for chronic hepatitis B. AbbVie recently won FDA approval for the first drug for acute hepatitis C, enabling physicians to treat patients at the time of diagnosis. Gilead, which led the way in hepatitis C, is developing potential cures for hepatitis B and sells a hepatitis D drug in Europe.
While the roster of drug candidates has changed, many of the barriers to hepatitis care have stayed the same over the years. AbbVie, for example, marked World Hepatitis Day nine years ago with a LinkedIn post that cited stigma as one of the greatest barriers to eliminating hepatitis.