Hetz – Israeli Association For The Health Of the Liver

Israeli Liver Patient Association “Hetz” is taking the lead in putting Hepatitis on the Israel Government’s Agenda.

For many years, “Hetz” is helping liver patients and their families across Israel cope with the disease and seek the best possible treatment. This year, we have added a new focus to our association’s scope of activities. In addition to all the patient-support activities, we are now very focused on national advocacy initiatives, aimed at putting hepatitis on the Israeli government’s Agenda:

1. Eradicate Hepatitis National Plan: Hetz drafted an Eradicated Hepatitis National Plan, which was endorsed by the Liver Physician Association. Nowadays, the plan is being discussed by the Liver National Council, and was already discussed with Ministry of Health officials who are all very supportive.
2. World Hepatitis Day in the Israeli Parliament: 2014 will be the first year in which World Hepatitis Day will be formally marked by the Israeli Parliament. This July we are planning together with MP Abraham Michaeli a full day of discussions, both in the Parliamentary Committees and in the Plenum.

Our advocacy efforts are complementary to our continuous patient care programs, among them:

1. Extensive support to rehabilitating IV Drug Users, which includes lectures to encourage hepatitis screening and treatment uptake.
2. Groundbreaking program in collaboration with the Israeli Prison Authority, aimed at providing HCV education to both inmates and prison staff, focused on prevention and detection.

No doubt this is an exciting year for us, and we are looking forward to sharing with you the results of all of these activities.