Joan M Block, RN, BSN
Co-Founder, Hepatitis B Foundation

I like what Dr. Jay Hoofnagle, director, Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, National Institutes of Health, said at the July 21st Congressional briefing: "Hepatitis B is a virus on the run...and we have it by the legs." I would add, "but we can't let it get away!"

So, although we should be pleased with our success, it would be awful if we let up now. Hepatitis B is on the run, but it's not gone. During National Hepatitis B Awareness Week, Dr. Richard Conlon, director, National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable, called for the "Eradication of hepatitis B in our lifetime." Given the tools we have on hand - vaccination and new treatments - eradication should be our worthy goal.

Here are some of the important unmet needs:
1. Expand the vaccination programs so everyone is protected.
2. Develop new or improved therapies so everyone with hepatitis B can benefit.
3. Determine the true number of people who are affected by hepatitis B in this country because potentially hundreds of thousands of infected people have been overlooked or forgotten.

The good news is - Dr. Conlon is right. It looks as if we can eradicate hepatitis B. The remarkable medical and scientific advances that have been made show us that this is a problem that can be solved! The willingness of leaders such as U.S. Senators Santorum and Feinstein, and Representatives Honda and Murphy to cross party lines to help the cause with congressional hearings and, hopefully, legislative action, should also give us great reason for hope.

The concern - that we will become too satisfied with what has been achieved already. We do not want to leave behind the 400 million individuals chronically affected who have not been reached either because they do not know of their need or because the current therapies are inadequate.

The Hepatitis B Foundation is here to make sure these people are not forgotten.

BInformed, Fall 2005.