Who We Are

Action Hepatitis Canada (AHC) is a national coalition of organizations responding to viral hepatitis.
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Our work engages government, policy makers, and civil society across Canada to promote viral hepatitis prevention, improve access to care and treatment, increase knowledge and innovation, create public health awareness, build health-professional capacity, and support community-based groups and initiatives.

Values

Health Equity
We believe access to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care should not be dependent on any social, racial, economical, or geographical status.
 
Commitment to Collective Community Action
We believe in supporting collective efforts within the hepatitis C community to increase access to treatment and care, and take a meaningful role in defining priorities and implementing strategies to improve health.
 
Meaningful Engagement of People Living with Viral Hepatitis
We believe that policies about a response to hepatitis C should be made only with the full and direct participation of people affected by hepatitis C, and that those with lived experience bring valuable expertise to any conversation about how to eliminate hepatitis C.
 
Harm Reduction
We believe that harm reduction is a crucial part of the response to hepatitis C.
 
Evidenced-Based Policy
We believe that when policy decisions are based on the most up-to-date, objective evidence and research, the resulting policies will provide the best outcomes.
 
Rights-Based Policy
We believe that a rights-based response is essential to tackling the hepatitis C epidemic in Canada.

History

In the early 2000’s, Canadian organizations involved in addressing viral hepatitis came together to form the first hepatitis network. 

This first hepatitis network focused on a call to governments for the development of hepatitis strategies, and introduced the document, “Responding to the Epidemic: Recommendations for a Canadian Hepatitis C Strategy”.

After a short gap of lessened activity, in 2010, organizations came together once again to form the “Canadian Coalition of Organizations Responding to Hepatitis B and C”, which in 2013 became Action Hepatitis Canada. 

Executive Committee

Gerard Yetman, Chair
​Colin Green, Vice-Chair
Laurence Mersilian, Secretariat/Treasurer

Staff

Jennifer van Gennip,
​Executive Director:
jvangennip@actionhep.ca