Geneva, Switzerland — Marking World Hepatitis Day, the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) called on the different organizations which make up the United Nations systems to take action to fight against Viral Hepatitis (Hepatitis B and C), a potentially fatal infection of the liver which affects 500 million people.

Viral hepatitis is the cause of death of over one million people a year and, around the world, one in every three people has been exposed to either the Hepatitis B virus or the Hepatitis C virus. Even more worrying, those infected do not know this and for them the first indication of infection can be the development of liver cancer or liver failure.

EASL acknowledges the progress made in recent years, including the establishment of WHO’s Global Hepatitis Programme and welcomes the recent publication of the WHO strategy to prevent and control viral hepatitis infection. However, Professor Mark Thursz, EASL Secretary General, noted that “viral hepatitis needs to be recognised as a serious threat in its own right and measures need to be taken to prevent those not yet infected from becoming infected and to ensure treatment is made available for those who are infected.”

EASL laments the impact of the exclusive emphasis on HIV, TB and malaria in policies arising from the Millennium Development Goals. As part of the work he has recently been conducting in Africa, Prof. Thursz met a patient who told him “If I don’t catch HIV soon I’ll die.” Life saving antiviral medications which work against both HIV and HBV are provided by the Global Fund for patients with HIV but denied for patients with HBV.

Prof. Thursz remarked that “Continuing to ignore viral hepatitis is discriminating and will compromise achievements in sustainable development. UNDP should give viral hepatitis the same priority as HIV, TB and malaria.”

Prof. Markus Peck-Radosavljevic, EASL’s Vice-Secretary, noted, “Viral hepatitis is a global issue. We need WHO to take a more active role in setting standards to control the transmission of infection through medical interventions and blood products. It will be difficult to address the epidemic effectively until WHO establish screening and surveillance protocols in every region.”

EASL is the leading liver association in Europe. EASL attracts the foremost hepatology experts as members and has an impressive track record in promoting research in liver disease, supporting wider education, and promoting changes in European liver policy.

EASL believes the EU has a key role to play in raising awareness of liver disease in Europe, increasing additional funding for research, setting standards and guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care of liver disease across the EU and encouraging member states to make liver disease a public health and research priority.

For more information please visit http://www.easl.eu/

About Liver Disease

Liver disease, estimated to affect 6% of the EU population (approx. 29 million people), is reported to be the EU’s 5th biggest killer, accounting for at least one in six deaths. In 2004, the mortality rate for chronic liver diseases was estimated at 14.3 per 100.000 in the EU-25.

This means that more than 70,000 Europeans are dying from chronic liver disease every year. Even more worrying is the fact that the EU statistics do not cover all diseases of the liver in one category, e.g. alcohol abuse related deaths and liver cancer are treated separately. Therefore, the actual rate of deaths from liver disease is certainly much higher than the statistics suggest.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, most commonly caused by a viral infection. There are five main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E. These five types are of greatest concern because of the burden of illness and death they cause and the potential for outbreaks and epidemic spread. In particular, types B and C lead to chronic disease in hundreds of millions of people and, together, are the most common cause of liver cirrhosis and cancer.

Image Courtesy of  Asianet-Pakistan / Shutterstock.com

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Halifax, U.S.A. — Under a US Army contract valued at USD$4.2 million, MedMira will develop and commercialize this multiple rapid test which detects HIV, Hepatitis B and C simultaneously in 3 minutes from a single drop of blood.

MedMira Inc., a developer of rapid diagnostic technology and solutions, announced today that it has been awarded a U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) contract to develop and commercialize a rapid test capable of simultaneous detection of HIV and Hepatitis B and C.

The contract, awarded through a competitive bid process, involves a two-year base period and a 10-month option with a value of USD$4,266,144, if all options are exercised. MedMira presented its technology and multiple rapid tests, which met the U.S. Army’s advanced technology readiness level requirements. The Multiplo Rapid HBV/HIV/HCV Antibody Test resulting from this contract award will be deployed on the frontlines of military healthcare for use in emergency screening for transfusion transmitted diseases where no FDA approved donor screening tests are available. The military could also put the test to use during pre and post deployment screenings and civilian disaster relief efforts.

“We are thrilled to receive this new contract from USAMRAA for the development and commercialization of our Multiplo test. This contract award demonstrates the excellent fit between MedMira’s technology and products and military requirements. We have built a lasting relationship with the U.S. Army, delivering advanced diagnostic solutions that reduce the need for militaries to undertake ground-up development work,” said Hermes Chan, CEO, MedMira Inc. “MedMira’s technology and products are elegantly simple, portable, fast, and high quality. All of these attributes are mission critical in deploying diagnostic healthcare solutions on the frontlines of military healthcare.”

Chan continued, “Our team recently attended a conference focused on military pre-hospital trauma management where we heard first hand of the need for a multiple rapid HBV/HIV/HCV test from many of the leading experts, military personnel, and medical professionals in this field.”

Under contract number W81XWH-12-C-0151 the U.S. Army will fund all development costs and associated fees in obtaining a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) premarket approval (PMA) for this multiple rapid test. The scope of work under this contract will see MedMira advance and fully commercialize a multiple rapid test that will simultaneously detect three of the most serious infectious diseases, namely HIV-1/2, Hepatitis B, and C antibodies within three minutes using just a small drop of blood. Once approved, the product will be supplied by MedMira directly to the U.S. Army and to other customers throughout the world, both military and civilian, via the Company’s distribution network.

“A multiplexed test for transfusion transmitted diseases provides an enabling technology that will be used to mitigate risk in austere environments where emergency blood collections are necessary to save lives of severely wounded war fighters,” said Colonel Richard Gonzales, Product Manager, U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity.

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Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) has announced that it has received a $9.3 million contribution, from an existing partner, providing further support through its Co-Pay Relief Program (CPR) for patients suffering from nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), breast cancer, colon cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and hepatitis C who are unable to afford their medical co-payments. These funds are currently available to qualified patients.

PAF’s CPR Program provides direct financial support for pharmaceutical co-payments to insured patients, including Medicare Part D beneficiaries, who financially and medically qualify. Since the program’s inception in April 2004, CPR has distributed more than $130 million in assistance to more than 50,000 patients nationwide who were unable to afford their pharmaceutical co-payments.

“The Co-Pay Relief Program was developed after PAF recognized extreme increases each year in the number of patients seeking pharmaceutical co-pay assistance, despite the fact they were insured,” said Nancy Davenport-Ennis, Founder and CEO of PAF. “Battling any disease is difficult, particularly now with the high out-of-pocket expenses that are routinely incurred by patients.

Thanks to this extremely generous donation, we will be able to offer an even greater level of support to patients seeking help with their pharmaceutical co-payments.”

On August 1, 2011, PAF announced a new operational model for CPR that serves more patients, provides enhanced service to both providers and patients through new technology tools, and allows for many more patient approvals. CPR donations are now released in total into each disease silo immediately upon receipt, rather than dividing contributions across a twelve month period.

CPR accepts all qualified new and renewal applications on a first come first serve basis with no limit imposed on the number of approvals issued monthly. CPR also accepts and processes all expenditures on a first come, first serve basis until the available funds in the entire silo are exhausted. Eligible expenditures may be submitted by patients, providers and/or pharmacists.

“We are excited about CPR’s use of state-of-the-art technology solutions to deliver a high degree of automation and efficiency to program users.

For example, electronic signature and file upload capabilities have been integrated into both the online application and the expenditure submission processes, including the capability for a user to fax documents which use a barcode based routing system,” said Beth Patterson, President of Mission Delivery, and Fran Castellow, President of Operations.

“These technological enhancements allow the patient, provider and pharmacy communities to leverage existing Electronic Health Records (EHR) or their Health Information Technology (HIT) to increase the speed with which their expenditures and applications are processed. In addition, CPR still has secure web-based portal access 24 hours a day, online assistance capabilities and live assistance via the toll-free phone number.”

Patient Advocate Foundation and its companion organization, the National Patient Advocate Foundation (NPAF), were founded on the principle that health care is a basic human need and shared social responsibility.

Annually, PAF receives thousands of contacts requesting information and assistance via their toll-free hotline, as well as online, with complete direct, sustained case management services provided to patients from all fifty states free of charge.

Image Courtesy  of    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Patient-Advocate-Foundation/121863874508285

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Experts at Montefiore Medical Center urge the general public to be tested for the Hepatitis C virus, especially baby boomers, adults born between 1946-1964, who could be most at risk for this disease. Baby boomers are more likely to have been exposed to dangerous risk factors decades ago, such as sharing a drug needle, being tattooed or pierced with unsterilized tools or receiving a tainted blood transfusion.

The disease often has no symptoms, and if untreated, can lead to chronic infection that can scar the liver, cause liver failure or cancer and potentially lead to liver transplantation.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the most common chronic blood borne infection in the United States, with 35,000 to 185,000 new cases diagnosed per year. Worldwide, 180 million people are chronically infected with Hepatitis C, with an estimated 3-4 million new cases reported each year. The disease particularly affects minorities, Hispanics, Asian-Americans and African-Americans.

“This disease has grown to epidemic proportions, with 350,000 people around the world dying from Hepatitis C-related liver disease,” said Milan Kinkhabwala, MD, Chief, Division of Transplantation at the Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation. “But it is called the ‘silent killer’ because many people don’t even know they have it.

This condition can be asymptomatic for decades and then present itself when it has already severely damaged the liver.” Individuals at risk can get a simple blood test to detect the virus before chronic infection leads to permanent liver damage. The Montefiore Medical Center Comprehensive Liver Disease Program offers simple and effective screenings.

It is recommended that individuals talk to their primary care physician or contact 888-RX-LIVER (888-795-4837) for more information or to set up an appointment for a screening. ”This is a revolutionary time in the treatment of the disease and there is more hope than ever before,” said Dr. Kinkhabwala. “The blood test is essential to detecting Hepatitis C, because now there are ways to treat the condition, and even reverse damage to the liver.”

Two new anti-viral oral medications, boceprevir and teleprevir, received FDA approval in May 2011. Both drugs work by blocking an enzyme that helps the virus reproduce. The drugs are intended to improve on standard treatments using the injected drug pegylated interferon alpha and the pill rivavrin.

“So far, the new drugs have shown promise in clearing the virus from the body and almost doubling the cure rate of the disease,” said Allan Wolkoff, MD, Professor of Medicine and of Anatomy and Structural Biology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases at Montefiore and Einstein.

“Another key benefit is that they cut treatment time in half, thus reducing the time the patient has to endure the severe side effects, which include anemia, depression and flu-like symptoms like fatigue, fever and headache.”

When symptoms do occur after the disease has progressed, they’re generally mild and flu-like and may include fatigue, fever, nausea or poor appetite, muscle and joint pain, bruising, abdominal pain, jaundice and itching. At that point, chronic infection can lead to scarring of the liver (fibrosis) and then advanced scarring (cirrhosis).

Scarring of the liver makes it difficult for the liver to function properly and can be devastating to the rest of the body, often causing liver failure or liver cancer. If the liver disease progresses too far and the medications are not effective, then transplantation is the last resort. However, more than 16,000 people in the United States are currently waiting for a liver donor, and in New York State, there are 1,700 patients on the waiting list.

Factors that have been reported to accelerate the rate of HCV disease progression include age, gender (males have more rapid disease progression than females), alcohol consumption, HIV coinfection (approximately 35% of patients) and fatty liver (the presence of fat in liver cells caused by obesity).

Unlike Hepatitis B, there is no vaccine to prevent this disease. While the symptoms are similar, distinct differences exist between the two viruses. Hepatitis B is primarily transmitted through sexual intercourse and is less severe. Dr. Kinkhabwala will be available for a live twitter chat to answer questions about Hepatitis C and liver disease on December 8, 2011 at noon. Follow @MontefioreNews to discuss #MonteHepC.

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