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Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
1600 Pennsylvania Aye, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
On behalf of the approximately 6 million Americans living with chronic hepatitis B and
hepatitis C virus, we are writing to urge you to issue a Presidential Proclamation
officially recognizing July 28, 2015 as World Hepatitis Day. We also encourage you to
participate in a Department of Health and Human Services Viral Hepatitis awarenessraising event on that day.
Each year an estimated 21,000 Americans die from hepatitis B and C. Worldwide,
approximately 2 billion people have been infected with hepatitis B and roughly 240
million live with chronic infection. About 3 to 4 million people are newly infected with
hepatitis C each year and about 130-150 million people are living with chronic infection.
Approximately 780,000 people die each year due to hepatitis B and an estimated
350,000-500,000 or more die each year due to liver disease from chronic hepatitis C virus
infection.
The 2010 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Hepatitis and Liver Cancer. A National
Strategy for Prevention and Control ofHepatitis B and C, found that the American public
and health care providers are not adequately educated about the risk of infection,
screening recommendations, or treatment options, and that our current hepatitis
prevention efforts are not working. This is not surprising; the lack of leadership and
dedication of public resources to hepatitis has led to an ill-informed American public and
an ill-equipped public health system which is unable to manage these burgeoning
epidemics.
We commend the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Housing and
Urban Development (HUD), Justice (DOJ), and Veterans Affairs (VA) for working
collaboratively to release a 3-year update of the HHS Viral Hepatitis Action Plan in April
2014. The updated Plan represents another critical milestone in the US response to viral
hepatitis and a key opportunity for you to reverse the harms due to the past two decades
of inaction. With an effective and safe vaccine for hepatitis B, and novel curative
therapies for hepatitis C, we have the tools to effectively combat and potentially
eliminate this domestic epidemic in our lifetime.
Your continued recognition of hepatitis as a domestic and global epidemic will send a
strong message across the nation and around the globe that the viral hepatitis epidemic
can no longer be ignored.

PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER

In the U.S., many community-based, advocacy, and health care organizations are
planning awareness events and activities on and around July 28 to help educate the
American public about hepatitis B and C and urge prevention, testing, and treatment.
Your participation in the HHS Event or in any World Hepatitis Day events would bring
desperately needed attention to these epidemics. With your support and a Presidential
Proclamation, we can begin to stem the spread of these infections and control these
epidemics once and for all.
We look forward to working with the White House, Federal agencies and the community
to continue raising the profile of this important health issue.
Sincerely,

M
K. Hirono
United States Senator

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator

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Brian Schatz
United States Senator

Michael M. Honda
Member of Congress
Co-Chair, Hepatitis Caucus

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Member of Congress
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Charles W. Dent
Member of Congress
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Eleanor Holmes Norton

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Yvette D. Clarke
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