In April 2015, the country of Georgia launched the world’s first national program to eliminate hepatitis C, defined as a 90% reduction in prevalence by 2020. Since 2015 over 6,1 million HCV screening was done, over 2,8 million persons tested, about 153,534 anti-HCV positive cases identified over 79,932 patients started treatment and Cure rate was 99%. Georgia designated refference lab for hepatitis– Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research, which conducted research activities for the simplification of HCV diagnostics, including studies on HCV cAg and various PCR approaches. Developed guidelines for standardization and validation of different methodology and new diagnostic Algorithms based on the research studies. Georgia was awarded as a center of excellence in viral hepatitis elimination at the EASL International Liver Congress, 2019 and In 2022 National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health was designated as WHO Collaborating Centre on Viral Hepatitis Elimination. About 296 million people worldwide are chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), and more than 2 billion have ever been infected with this virus. HBV is an incurable disease. Covalently closed circular DNA (ccc-DNA) remains in the hepatocyte even among those who have ever been exposed to HBV, which is a risk of its reactivation and the development of fulminant hepatitis. The risk of HBV reactivation is especially high among immunocompromised persons and depends on many factors – HBV serology profile, the type and degree of immunosuppression, co-morbidities, etc. A comprehensive evaluation and HBV-reactivation risk assessment are sentential before starting any immunosuppression.

This webinar comprises of three following presentations of 20 min each followed by 20 min of panel discussion at the end.

Chair: Dr. Maia Alkhazashvili

Talk 1- "Laboratory Aspects of Hepatitis B Virus Reactivation among Immunocompromised Persons" - Dr. Mamuka Zakalashvili

Talk 2- "Evaluation of the diagnostic performance of HCVcAg" - Dr. Nazibrola Chitadze

Talk 3- "Characterization of recent HCV infections and re-infections among the high-risk population from Georgia using GHOST technology" - Dr. Adam Kotorashvili

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