Georgia observed World Hepatitis Day on July 28, which aims to raise public awareness about viral hepatitis, hepatitis-caused diseases, and their preventive measures.
Regarding the date, a working meeting was held at the Tengiz Tsertsvadze Center for Infectious Pathology, AIDS and Clinical Immunology, where the challenges and achievements related to hepatitis prevention were summarized.
The Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons, Labor, Health, and Social Welfare shared glimpses of the working meeting through its social media handles on Monday, July 28, 2025. The Ministry shared a video of the meeting along with a short note about the meeting.
The Minister of Health addressed the guests. Mikheil Sarjveladze paid special attention to the achievements of the C hepatitis elimination program and the importance of the state program for the management of hepatitis B in Georgia.
According to Mikheil Sarjveladze, Tengiz Tsertsvadze’s effort in successfully functioning of the program is invaluable, and his role was crucial both in the process of planning and the effective implementation of the program.
During the meeting, important aspects of elimination strategy, prevention of transmission, identification of infected persons, improvement of laboratory diagnostic methods, and awareness were discussed.
It was noted that the fight against hepatitis, since 2013, has been a priority of the government. In 2013, the Minister of Probation and Legal Aid Affairs, Sozar Subar, named ensuring access to treatment as one of the top priorities of the Ministry of Penitentiary Affairs.
Accordingly, the agenda was the necessity to develop a state program for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of hepatitis C and the formation of a working group.
Subsequently, this group developed software documents for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of hepatitis C in the penal system.
It should be noted that starting from 2024 in the country, the state program for the management of hepatitis B, which completely covers screening and diagnostic tests, will provide hepatitis B medicines free of charge hepatitis B medicines.
The state program for the management of hepatitis C was launched in 2015, and so far, more than 91,300 citizens have participated in the program, 87,000 citizens have completed the treatment, and 98.5% of the patients have been cured. The services provided by the state program, both diagnosis and medicines, are fully funded by the state and do not include co-payment from the patient.
Participants of the working meeting are:
- Irakli Purtseladze, Director of the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health,
- Silviu Domene, Head of the Georgian Representative of the World Health Organization,
- “T. Marine Ezugbaia, the executive director of the Scientific and Practical Center of Infectious Pathology, AIDS and Clinical Immunology, named after Certsvadze.
Notably, physicians, patients, and other guests were also present at the meeting.
