VH-COMSAVAC

Duración

01/11/2022 - 31/10/2024

Coordinador

Jeffrey Lazarus

Financiadores

EU4H European Commission

In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a global strategy with the goal to eliminate viral hepatitis as a major public health threat by 2030 and set targets to reduce viral hepatitis cases by 90% and hepatitis-related deaths by 65%. The strategy also called for health systems to improve outreach and testing, such that 90% of those unaware of their status are diagnosed and, of these, 80% of people living with HBV and HCV be on treatment by 2030.

Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan was updated in 2021 and sets out specific objectives to reduce cancer-related morbidity and mortality across Europe. The objective to prevent cancers caused by HBV and HCV infections is included in this renewed Plan.

The objective of this project is to scale-up and adapt community-based viral hepatitis (HBV and HCV) testing and HBV vaccination models of care among migrant and refugee populations with documented high HBV and HCV incidence and prevalence using simplified diagnostic tools and person-centred referral processes to reduce liver cancer-associated mortality. This project will be carried out in Italy, Greece, and Spain and is coordinated by ISGlobal.

The project will have a 2-year duration and includes partners in Spain (Salud Entre Culturas), Italy (the Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granada Ospedale Maggiore Policlino, Milan; Hospital San Raffaele, and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan), and Greece (Prometheus; Athens).

External Advisory Board Members

• World Health Organization (WHO)
• European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
• European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL)
• Hepatitis B and C Public Policy Association (HBCPPA)
• Viral Hepatitis Prevention Board (VHPB)
• European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID)
• International Liver Cancer Movement (ILCM)
• International Coalition to Eliminate HBV (ICE-HBV)

Associated Partners

• European Liver Patient’s Association (ELPA)
• European Public Health Association (EUPHA)
• World Federation for Public Health Associations (WFPHA)
• Generalitat de Catalunya - Departament de Salut

Total funding

€1 million

Academic Publications

• Picchio CA, Kwakye DN, Rando-Segura A, et al., Lazarus JV. Community-based screening enhances hepatitis B virus (HBV) linkage to care among West African migrants in Spain . Communications Medicine 2023.
• MacKinnon MJ, Picchio CA, Kwakye DN, et al., Lazarus JV. Chronic conditions and multimorbidity among West African migrants in greater Barcelona, Spain . Frontiers Public Health. 2023.
• Picchio CA, Kwakye DN, Gómez Araujo S, et al., Lazarus JV. A novel model of care for simplified testing of HBV in African communities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain . Scientific Reports. 2021.

Related blogposts

• VH-COMSAVAC: A Living Case for Universal Health Coverage Through Meaningful Impact (2024)
• Picchio, C. Bridging the Knowledge Gap in Viral Hepatitis (2024)
• Nicolas A, et al. Hepatitis B Immunization: a Strategy for Liver Cancer Prevention in Underserved Migrant Populations (2023)
• Dagiada E, et al. Breaking Barriers, Building Health: Reaching Vulnerable Communities to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis (2023)
• World Hepatitis Day 2021: Vulnerable Populations Cannot Wait- Decentralising Hepatitis B and C Care (2021)

Translated Resources

VH-COMSAVAC’s impact extends beyond the project’s completion, with other EU co-funded projects using and adapting its materials to local contexts and languages.

Example 1 (In Romanian)

Example 2 (In Romanian and English)