Our World Hepatitis Day activities
In 2011, The Hepatitis C Trust played an important role in securing World Hepatitis Day (28 July) as one of the World Health Organization’s global health days.
For more than a decade, we have joined hundreds of partners around the world to help raise awareness of viral hepatitis. Below are some of the ways we have marked World Hepatitis Day and brought vital attention to our cause.
Timeline
2011
Theme: Hepatitis affects everyone, everywhere
We led a national billboard campaign to raise awareness about hepatitis C among the public.
David Cameron PM released a statement encouraging people at risk to get tested.
2012
Theme: It’s closer than you think
Coinciding with the opening weekend of the London Olympic Games, Scotland held a ‘HEPtathlon’ to mark the occasion.
Individuals carried out various challenges all over the country to help raise awareness and celebrate the day
2013
Theme: This is hepatitis. Know it. Confront it.
26,204 people around the world posed at the ‘Three Wise Monkeys’ to bring attention to how people block out the reality of viral hepatitis. This action gained a Guinness World Record.
2014
Theme: Think again
Participants were asked to send in pictures that have made them think twice. This might have been a face in an object, a shape in a cloud, a riddle or visual puzzle.
They were posted on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #ThinkHepatitis.
2015
Theme: Prevent hepatitis. Act now
We held a patient conference at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. The event helped answer the key concerns of people living with hepatitis C about the latest treatment programmes.
2016
Theme: Know hepatitis. Act now
To mark the launch of the #NoHep movement, The Hepatitis C Trust joined with the World Hepatitis Alliance to stage a ‘die in’ in London’s Piccadilly Circus. The event sent a powerful message to world leaders that hepatitis does not need to kill anyone else.
2017
Theme: Eliminate hepatitis
We held a patient conference to challenge the stigma surrounding hepatitis C. Throughout the day, many people affected by hepatitis C shared their experiences.
2018
Theme: Test. Treat. Hepatitis
We secured written statements of support from political leaders across the UK, including Public Health Minister Steve Brine, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones, and Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson.
2019
Theme: Invest in eliminating hepatitis
London Mayor Sadiq Khan visited a testing event in Bermondsey to find out more about the prevalence of hepatitis C in homeless communities.
Our staff and volunteers took on the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge to raise thousands of pounds to support our work.
2020
Theme: Hepatitis-free future
Our staff and volunteers jointly climbed almost twice the equivalent of the height of Mount Everest by climbing peaks across the UK. The money raised went towards our own work and to the mental health charity Mind.
Dozens of landmarks across the country were also lit up purple to mark the day.
2021
Theme: Hepatitis can’t wait
Collectively, our staff and volunteers walked 44,875km in the lead up to World Hepatitis Day. This is the equivalent of walking around the Earth more than once!
We organised for lots of landmarks around the UK to glow purple once again, including the Penshaw Monument near Sunderland.
2022
Theme: Bringing hepatitis care closer to you
We held a parliamentary reception at Westminster to help MPs understand more about hepatitis and the policy changes needed to help reach elimination.
Our staff and volunteers took to the skies to take part in a parachute jump to raise money for medical treatment and supplies in Ukraine.
2023
Theme: Don’t miss the target
Our campaigning efforts focused on a call to Government to make sure that we eliminate hepatitis C and maintain elimination over the long term.
Activities took place up and down the country to help raise awareness, reduce stigma and get people tested. We were also pleased to donate 42 lilac trees to hospitals, prisons, treatment providers and other supportive organisations to plant in memory of the people who have lost their lives to the virus.