To accomplish our mission the Hepatitis Foundation International initiates a wide range of programs that keep us on the go! The common thread in each one is to educate the public, patients, and professionals about the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of viral hepatitis. Here are some examples:

• HFI Trains attendees in Washington D.C. on Liver Wellness- An Effective Approach to Promotion Prevention of Hepatitis and Substance Abuse.

• National Nurses Advisory Council on Liver Wellness and Viral Hepatitis Launched by HFI

• Liver Lady Kicks Off Prevention Program in Pennsylvania

• Training the Trainers: Changing Risky Behaviors with Unique Motivating Messages

• Two Young Scientists Receive HFIs Research Awards — Focus on Hepatitis B and C

• Thiel Offers Testimony On Hepatitis

• HFI Assists Task Force On Drug-resistant Infections

National Nurses Advisory Council on Liver Wellness and Viral Hepatitis Launched by HFI
One of the greatest untapped resources in the fight against viral hepatitis is “nurses”. A survey of a A number of professional nurses who attended Hepatitis Foundation International’s National Viral Hepatitis Summit last November called attention to many gap areas in the identification, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of viral hepatitis. To provide a coordinated effort to address these issues, HFI convened a meeting of nurse practitioners to establish a National Nurses Advisory Council on Liver Wellness and Viral Hepatitis (NNAC). The purpose of the Council is to provide nurses with a “voice” to address many of their concerns.related to the quality of care provided patients and to promote primary and secondary prevention. The overall goal of the newly developed NNAC is to develop a national plan of action to created a communication network to provide nurses nationwide with information and tools to implement the best practices in patient care, to promote liver wellness and the prevention of viral hepatitis, and to serve as advocates related to issues they have identified. 

Charter members included nurses from university medical centers, major medical institutions, the Veterans Administration, health departments and school health services organizations. 

The Mission of the National Nurse Advisory Council on Liver Wellness and Viral Hepatitis is: 

To improve hepatitis related health outcomes and promote liver wellness through the establishment of education and prevention program at all levels of society, collaborating with both public and private organizations.

We welcome input from nurses working in industry, corrections facilities, rehabilitation centers, mental health organizations, nursing schools and others working in various related fields. For more information about the NNAC and how you can become involved, please email Thelma King Thiel, Chair and CEO of the HFI at TKT@hepatitisfoundation.net. 

Back to top

Liver Lady Kicks Off Prevention Program in Pennsylvania
Thelma King Thiel, HFI’s CEO was invited by the Blair County Healthy Community Partnership in Altoona, Pennsylvania to kick off a major campaign to attack an alarming increase in hepatitis C.

Training the Trainers: Changing Risky Behaviors with Unique Motivating Messages
Hepatitis and Substance Abuse Prevention, Quick and Easy Techniques With Proven Success
Motivating individuals to take responsibility for their own health care and to avoid risky behaviors that expose them to AIDS, and hepatitis viruses that lead to serious liver damage is a difficult task. It depends a great deal on having knowledge and understanding of basic functions of the liver, what vital role it plays in their health and well being, and how it can be compromised by drugs, alcohol, environmental pollutants and hepatitis viruses.

Two Young Scientists Receive HFIs Research Awards — Focus on Hepatitis B and C
The Hepatitis Foundation International Board of Directors approved research applications from two young research scientists to expand the understanding of the epidemiology of hepatitis B and  C.

Thiel Offers Testimony On Hepatitis Preventive Education Funding
Congressman Bill Pascrell congratulates HFI's Chairman Thelma King Thiel for her impassioned testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies chaired by Congressman Ralph Regula. Recommending that efforts continue on the five year goal of doubling the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget by providing a 16.5% increase for FY 2002, Ms. Thiel highlighted the serious consequences related to the lack of preventive education, and the low level of Federal funding to address the many problems related to the millions of hepatitis infected Americans.

Requests for $23.7 billion for NIH; $2.38 billion for NIAID; $1.52 billion for NIDDK and $5.0 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were identified. A special appeal was made to earmark funding for studies among groups of patients that have been neglected in research initiatives. They include African-Americans, children and adolescents, renal dialysis patients, HIV/HCV positive patients, and patients with hemophilia.

A special appeal was made to begin health education programs in elementary schools providing children with basic information to help them avoid liver damaging activities and to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviors. Ms. Thiel appealed to the Committee "to help bring the enormous problem of hepatitis and substance abuse under control by teaching children to take responsibility for their own health-care."

Back to top
HFI Assists Task Force On Drug-Resistant Infections
The growing menace of drug resistant infections has led a federal inter-agency task force to develop a plan of action to combat them. Created last year, the Task Force on Anti-microbial Resistance (AR) released a draft copy of its initial action plan in January. This Task Force, co-chaired by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, was assisted by outside experts, including HFI's CEO, Thelma King Thiel.

Despite the urgency of the problem, the battle against AR has been inadequate to date. HFI is among the first to pledge itself to this national plan of action against AR. The Task Force's Public Action Plan will address AR in four areas:

Surveillance The plan envisions efforts to coordinate, integrate and build on existing surveillance activities. Steps will be taken to improve the detection and reporting of AR through training and testing, increased monitoring, and enhanced surveillance in agricultural settings.

Prevention and Control The goals are: extending the life of anti-microbial drugs; improving testing practices; preventing transmission by improved infection control; preventing emerging AR problems in agriculture; and ensuring that non-federal partners are involved in the process.

Research A government-wide external review will identify needed AR research. Infrastructure for this research will be augmented. The government will assist basic research for vaccines and treatments and focus on gaps not filled by the pharmaceutical industry.

Product Development The priorities include insuring that researchers and drug companies are informed about gaps in the arsenal of drugs to fight AR and streamlining the regulatory approval process for new products. The Task Force observed that AR will always be with us. The challenge is to turn this threat into a manageable problem.