The World Health Organisation (WHO) has set an ambitious elimination target for hepatitis B virus (HBV) as a public health threat by 2030. Key obstacles to this plan include equity in access to testing, linkage to care and availability to vaccines and treatment. The presence of gaps in diagnostic testing and HBV drug resistance surveillance, in conjunction with the variability of used testing regimes across different populations, highlights the importance for unifying and improve diagnostic and reporting practices.
In an aim to understand better the HBV and HDV diagnostic capacity and algorithms followed in European laboratories, and to assess whether wider harmonisation is needed, the ESCV subgroup on diagnostics have developed a survey to look at all aspects of diagnostics, including sequencing capability. We seek laboratories with an interest in sharing local protocols and where available, in sharing sequence data, as part of a collaborative study across the ESCV network.
The survey will form a blueprint for future studies and collaborations, contributing to the 2030 WHO elimination goal.
Survey link: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/HBV_lab_testing
Thank you for your collaboration.