How to assess the elimination of viral hepatitis B, C, and D in Germany? Outcomes of an interdisciplinary workshop

Background In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a strategy to eliminate hepatitis B, C, and D and defined indicators to monitor the progress. The Robert Koch Institute organized an interdisciplinary working meeting in 2019 to identify data sources and gaps. Objectives The objectives were to network, to create an overview of the data sources available in Germany on hepatitis B and C, and to discuss how to construct indicators. Materials and methods We extracted the WHO indicators relevant for Germany and determined how they can be constructed on the basis of available data. Stakeholders from public health services, clinics, laboratories, health insurance companies, research institutes, data holders, and registries attended a workshop and discussed methods of constructing the indicators for which data are lacking. Data sources and data were evaluated and prioritized with regard to their quality and completeness. Results Indicators on prevalence, incidence, prevention, testing and diagnosis, treatment, cure, burden of sequelae, and mortality for the general population can be constructed using secondary data such as diagnosis, health service, and registry data, data from laboratories and hospitals as well as population-based studies. Data sources for vulnerable groups are limited to studies among drug users, men who have sex with men, and about HIV coinfected patients. Data for migrants, prisoners, and sex workers are largely lacking as well as data on burden of disease from chronic viral hepatitis in the general population. Conclusions We identified data sources, their limitations, and methods for construction for all selected indicators. The next step is to convert the ideas developed into concrete projects with individual stakeholders.

Automated summary

The translation provides insights into the WHO's strategy to eliminate hepatitis B, C, and D in 2016, and Germany's efforts to monitor progress through a 2019 interdisciplinary working meeting. The workshop identified data sources and methods for constructing indicators, while also highlighting the limited data sources for certain vulnerable groups.