World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Viral Hepatitis

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and the World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) are hosting the Second World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Viral Hepatitis, Aug. 8-9 in Anchorage at Alaska Pacific University.

The conference will welcome Indigenous peoples and providers from across the globe to further the conversation on viral hepatitis in Indigenous communities. The event is led by Indigenous people and WHA, a global patient led and patient driven membership organization. The program is designed for Indigenous peoples, clinicians, and those working in Indigenous health.

Globally, viral hepatitis is a significant health issue for Indigenous populations, but the Alaska Tribal Health System has made significant strides in preventing and treating viral hepatitis for Alaska Native and American Indian people.

The inaugural World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Viral Hepatitis was held back-to-back with the 9th Australasian Viral Hepatitis Conference in September 2014. The conference was the first of its kind dedicated to examining the health burden of viral hepatitis on Indigenous peoples. It provided a forum to share common experiences and innovative solutions and to develop new relationships to enable collective responses in the future.

Speakers from around the world will be in Anchorage to discuss and share knowledge on viral hepatitis at this second annual conference. The conference dates were chosen to coincide with International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2017 on Wednesday, August 9.

Key research being presented includes:

·Update on global Indigenous Peoples Hepatitis B and C rates

·Attempts to eliminate hepatitis C in Cherokee Nation

·Universal vaccination has wiped out hepatitis B and associated liver cancer in Alaska’s young people

·Hepatitis A vaccination in Alaska

For more information on the World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Viral Hepatitis, visit https://www.wipcvh2017.org/.