Swiss Hepatitis Symposium 2024: Surveillance & Response

A coherent surveillance and response approach is key to effectively implementing elimination programmes. Only if a surveillance system early detects signs of rising cases in vulnerable groups decision-makers can intervene.

Numbers are, therefore, the basis for decision-making when it comes to elimination programmes for infectious diseases. But what is the current status of surveillance and response in Switzerland with respect to viral hepatitis? How can we enhance surveillance for HIV and viral hepatitis in Switzerland? What are possible methods for measuring the burden of disease for viral hepatitis?

These questions were answered at the Swiss Hepatitis Symposium 2024: Marcel Tanner, Director Emeritus of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute SwissTPH, spoke about successful approaches to surveillance and response and showed what is needed for elimination.
Andri Rauch, Chief Physician at Inselspital Bern, presented a possible concept for an improved surveillance and response approach for HIV, STIs and viral hepatitis.
From Germany, epidemiologist Ruth Zimmermann presented a detailed analysis of hepatitis B and C cases from the Robert Koch Institute.
Erika Castro Batänjer from SAMMSU showed how long-term surveillance of infectious diseases can work in a particularly vulnerable population group, people with substance use, using a unique cohort of over 10 years.
Thanks to an interactive contribution by Fabio Duo, Peak Privacy, and Harry Witzthum, Caritas Switzerland, the symposium allowed us to take a look behind the scenes at current developments in the field of artificial intelligence and its contribution to the surveillance and control of infectious diseases.
In an interview with moderator Catherine Boss, Iva Juricic from Saxerriet Prison gave an impressive insight into hepatitis care for people in prison as part of the Swiss HepFree in Prisons Programme SHiPP project, which also showed that other health problems can be tackled thanks to this intervention.

All presentations are now available for download, see below.

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