Evolution of the Viral Hepatitis Prevention Board--VHPB.

The Viral Hepatitis Prevention Board (VHPB) was formed in 1992 to provide authoritative information and advice on hepatitis B as an occupational hazard and to act as a scientific lobby group to promote hepatitis B vaccination as part of an overall risk reduction strategy. The VHPB published Viral Hepatitis, a newsletter whose format and content was designed to appeal to both professional and lay readers seeking information on hepatitis. The VHPB was successful in lobbying the European Parliament to add the Code of Practice on Vaccination to legislation protecting workers from occupationally acquired infections. The first initiative on occupational hepatitis B culminated in an international congress in March 1993 and the publication of 'Hepatitis B as an Occupational Hazard' in the WHO occupational health series. Since 1993 the Board has discussed HBV as a community acquired infection; control of hepatitis A (HAV) and eligibility for hepatitis A vaccine and combined hepatitis A and B vaccines; hepatitis C; and reviewed progress towards the control of HBV and the adoption of universal vaccination programmes in countries of low endemicity. A major international congress in Cannes in November 1993 took stock of actions taken to control hepatitis B as a community health risk in industrialised countries. The constitution and membership of the Board underwent significant change at the end of 1994. A Secretarial was located within the Centre for the Evaluation of Vaccination at the University of Antwerp to deal with all administrative matters and publications in peer reviewed journals. The format of Viral Hepatitis was re-focused to increase the scientific content. The Board extended its actions geographically in 1996 to include the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Newly Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union. The success of the VHPB has exceeded all the expectations of the founding members. The major focus of the annual programme of meetings and of publications remains on hepatitis B and its prevention through vaccination. But more and more the broad range of prevention and control strategies for all forms of hepatitis is dealt with.