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Have You Ever Tried the ‘Leave a Yellow Note’ Filter at Instagram?

Could you introduce Santa Farma Hepatitis Team to us?

Santa Farma offers a portfolio of products for Hepatitis B for the good Turkish Medicine since 2014. Marketing Managers Manolya Hale Solak and Okan Aksoylu and Medical Director Dr. Gürkan Umut Ay are in charge of the product portfolio.

Currently, the site team is actively working on two medications with tenofovir disoproxil and entecavir which are recommended in current guidelines as the most effective active ingredients for treatment of chronic Hepatitis B.

Could you explain your position on hepatitis?

Viral hepatitis is the most common cause of liver diseases in our country and the world. According to the data shared by the World Health Organisation (WHO), 257 million people suffer from Hepatitis B infection globally while 887 thousand people die of disorders related to Hepatitis B, including specifically cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, every year. 

The World Health Organisation formed a global healthcare strategy for viral hepatitis in 2016. Under this strategy, it is anticipated that viral hepatitis will be eliminated as a public threat by 2030 through an effective plan comprised of vaccination, treatment and prevention of transmission. The WHO’s Global Action Plan Framework of aims to create a world where viral hepatitis transmission is eliminated and everyone can reach safe and effective treatment options. At Santa Farma, we intend to contribute to this goal by offering safe and effective treatment to patients with chronic Hepatitis B and raising public awareness about Hepatitis B.

Could you tell us about the awareness projects and your partnerships with the relevant stakeholders?

A study conducted in Turkey revealed that one third of adults above 18 years of age come across HBV and more than 2 million adults are tested positive for Hepatitis B antigen. Yet, solely about 12% of those individuals are aware of this condition. This is a dramatic indication of the lack of awareness about Hepatitis B in our country.

In 2019, we launched a public awareness project, “Leave a Yellow Note to Life”, in cooperation with Viral Hepatitis Control Association in order to raise awareness and encourage more people to take tests and adopt precautions against Hepatitis B. The Project was awarded “Special Jury Prize” at Health category of the 17^th Golden Spider Web Awards and received “Success Award” at Health Communication Gerilla Project category of Felis Awards.

According to the data provided in “2018-2023 Viral Hepatitis Prevention and Control Program” which was created by Viral Hepatitis Control Association and Turkish Liver Research Association jointly with the Ministry of Health, 1.8 million adults with Hepatitis B are not even aware of their condition because of lack of public awareness about the disease although Hepatitis B is curable.

Last year, we collaborated with the Yellow Microphone, which is Turkey's most watched street interviews channel, for promoting “Yellow Note to Life” project. At the viral videos, Hayrettin, the famous actor, made street interviews for the project. We were able to extend our reach to 4.5 million people through social platforms.

For this July 28, World Hepatitis Day, we prepared a surprising Instagram Filter in order to raise awareness by entertaining people on social media. Also, we will shoot a campaign video with Hayrettin in order to promote the awareness about Hepatitis B. In the long run, we intend to create other online contents and take attractive steps for raising public awareness about Hepatitis B and engage healthcare professionals in our project in order to give answers to questions which are commonly asked about the disease.

References:

1. T.C. Sağlık Bakanlığı-Türkiye Viral Hepatit Önleme ve Kontrol Programı 2018

2. Türkiye Viral Hepatitler Tanı ve Tedavi Kılavuzu 2017.

3. Global Hepatitis Report, 2017. World Health Organization

4. Tozun N, Ozdogan O, Cakaloglu Y, Idilman R, Karasu Z, Akarca U, et al. Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and C virus infections and risk factors in Turkey: a fieldwork TURHEP study. Clin Microbiol Infect 2015;21:1020-1026.

Prof. Dr. Fehmi Tabak, VHSD President

Last year, Viral Hepatitis Control Association (VHSD) launched an awareness campaign “Leave a Yellow Note to Life”, in order to raise public awareness and encourage people to take precautions against Hepatitis B with unconditional support from Santa Farma. Since then, we have reached 4 million people through our website, social media posts and interviews. We keep making dedicated efforts on digital platforms this year. If you would like to support us in our mission to create public awareness about Hepatitis B and inform more people about the ways to prevent Hepatitis B, please share our campaign website on www.hayatasarinotbirak.com and our social media accounts. Sharing will hopefully spread awareness. Thank you for your support to this valuable cause.