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Essential components in developing public policy to control viral hepatitis: lessons from Taiwan

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Abstract

Background

Over 500 million people are estimated to be infected with chronic viral hepatitis with an increasing burden resulting from the infections. In 2010, the World Health Organization recommended national governments develop effective strategies to reduce the global impact of viral hepatitis. Taiwan, to support the implementation of the world’s first national vaccination program, developed the first of a series of 5-year national strategies in 1982. Our study sought to identify the essential constituents of the strategic response to chronic viral hepatitis in Taiwan, which could then be used by other governments to inform best practice in strategy development.

Methods

Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with key participants involved in the national response to viral hepatitis in Taiwan (n = 26) and a review of the literature.

Results

The development of a national strategic response is one of several factors in reducing the burden of viral hepatitis in Taiwan. Other critical factors are effective health services, a prioritization of disease prevention, government funding of science and technology, and sustained advocacy informed by a rigorous evidence base. While there has been significant policy, structural and financial commitment to reduce the burden of related to viral hepatitis, essential challenges remain.

Conclusions

Taiwan’s viral hepatitis policy response focuses on clinical interventions and would be strengthened by a broader involvement of interdisciplinary stakeholders, including people with viral hepatitis, and stronger coordination between the policy and government agencies responsible for their implementation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Ms. Vicki Ang for her organizational and administrative skills as well as her coordination of the project in Taiwan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, 215 Franklin Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia

    Jack Wallace, Marian Pitts, Jeanne Ellard & Marina Carman

  2. Research and Molecular Development, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for Hepatitis B, Doherty Institute, 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia

    Stephen Locarnini

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ding-Shinn Chen

Authors
  1. Jack Wallace
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  2. Marian Pitts
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  3. Stephen Locarnini
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  4. Jeanne Ellard
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  5. Marina Carman
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  6. Ding-Shinn Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jack Wallace.

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Funding

This project was funded by the Coalition to Eradicate Viral Hepatitis in Asia Pacific (CEVHAP). CEVHAP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to public policy reform to reduce the significant health, social and economic burden of viral hepatitis in the Asia Pacific region.

Conflict of interest

Jack Wallace, Marian Pitts, Stephen Locarnini, Jeanne Ellard, Marina Carman and Ding-Shinn Chen have no financial interest to declare in regards to this manuscript.

Ethical standard

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Ethical support for the project came from the La Trobe University Faculty of Health Sciences (FHEC12/6) with all participants providing informed consent before contributing to the study.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Wallace, J., Pitts, M., Locarnini, S. et al. Essential components in developing public policy to control viral hepatitis: lessons from Taiwan. Hepatol Int 10, 355–362 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12072-015-9660-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12072-015-9660-y

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