Today we are pleased to launch a new HHS viral hepatitis website that will support our work across federal agencies and with partners across the nation to fight viral hepatitis.  This is an important step in our efforts to raise greater awareness about viral hepatitis prevention, testing, care and – in the case of hepatitis C – cure, among policy makers, healthcare providers, at risk populations, and the public.

Acting Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Karen DeSalvo said, “With this new site, we are seeking to provide users with easy access to information about viral hepatitis and the federal response, highlighting the Viral Hepatitis Action Plan and sharing federal resources, policies, and programs from across government. Community stakeholder contributions and examples will be among the first enhancements to this evolving online resource.”

The new site features information about hepatitis B and hepatitis C and provides visitors with quick access to online tools that can help assess a person’s risk, find hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines, and locate hepatitis C services. In addition, the site provides information about the Viral Hepatitis Action Plan, which guides our nation’s response to viral hepatitis, and provides links to relevant federal polices and guidelines.  It also will be the new home for blog posts about viral hepatitis and the Action Plan previously featured on AIDS.gov.

We will continue to expand the site in the coming months, adding both more sections and content. We hope you’ll visit often, and we welcome your feedback along the way.

A special thanks to our colleagues in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs’ Web Communications Division who developed the new site in collaboration with Miguel Gomez, Oskian Kouzouian, and Corinna Dan from my office. This is an excellent example of breadth and variety of agencies working to combat viral hepatitis.

Along with the new viral hepatitis web site, we are debuting a new Twitter account:@HHS_ViralHep. This new handle will extend our efforts to share federal hepatitis resources and the Viral Hepatitis Action Plan, and engage with community members.

Richard Wolitski, Ph.D., is Acting Director, Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; This post was reprinted from AIDS.gov, May 19, 2016.