May is Hepatitis Awareness Month, a month set aside to increase public awareness about viral hepatitis in the United States. Awareness is an essential ingredient towards eliminating hepatitis B and C.

Eliminating viral hepatitis is not just talk; it’s a realistic goal and project of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (The National Academies). Entitled, “ A National Strategy for the Elimination of Hepatitis B and C,” this report summarizes phase 2 of a plan to eliminate the threat of hepatitis B and C in the United States by 2030. For most baby boomers living in the United States, this plan ends viral hepatitis in our lifetime.

In case you think that I am exaggerating about the goal of this plan, here is a quote from The National Academies, “This report…lays out a strategy through which morbidity and mortality from viral hepatitis could be reduced by 2030 to the point that neither hepatitis B nor commands attention as a major public health threat in the United States.”

So, if you want to help eliminate hepatitis, then get involved. You can find information about Hepatitis Awareness Month at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Viral Hepatitis. Be sure to visit the following pages:

Do something, anything. Don’t judge the size of your action. It all matters.  

Follow the CDC on Twitter @cdchep  #HepAware #HepTestingDay