Duneton, Madame Chair Touraine, and Esteemed Members of the Unitaid Board, We write to call urgent attention to the plight of the 354 million people living with viral hepatitis and the dire need to elevate efforts to improve patients’ health, which has potentially resounding effects for affected communities, governments, and global health. [...] We commend your organization’s significant accomplishments, in partnership with civil society organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and community advocates, to spur global uptake of innovations in hepatitis C virus (HCV), to sensitize governments and communities, and to catalyze political commitments to end viral hepatitis, HIV, TB, and malaria in low- and middle-income coun. [...] In fact, leveraging Unitaid’s COVID-19 funding, such as research and development on HBV surface antigen and core antigen rapid diagnostic tests; support for lab infrastructure and civil society networks to integrate viral hepatitis screening/testing in COVID- 19 responses; and investing in community engagement across its projects, could strengthen health systems to address viral hepatitis and to c. [...] 2 The 130 signatories of this letter represent CSOs and NGOs committed to eliminating viral hepatitis, healthcare providers, patients, and communities living with or affected by HBV and HCV and fighting for affordable, equitably accessible treatments and diagnostics. [...] We request acknowledgement of this letter and a meeting in the coming months to plan how we can collaboratively tackle this global health issue and continue to offer hope to the hundreds of millions of people living with or at risk of viral hepatitis.
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