About Empathy Campaign

Empowering People Against Hepatitis, or the ‘EMPATHY’ Campaign is an attempt to bridge the gap between psycho-social needs and justified rights of the crores of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infected people in India. Under this campaign, our goal is to destigmatise Hepatitis B and C in society and create an enabling environment for individuals affected with the disease and their families for social participation and care seeking.

Since 2000, deaths from viral hepatitis increased by 22%. In India, each year, 5 lakh people die of Hepatitis, which affects almost 6 crore Indians. In India, viral hepatitis B and C is a major public health challenge that requires an urgent response with prevention strategies as the key focus area. This is a silent epidemic and more than 80% of persons infected do not know about their infection till it is too late. A person can remain healthy and asymptomatic for years but at the same time it affects their liver slowly and progressively leading to severe liver damage. Diseases are treated by doctors but can only be prevented by participation of society since prevention is always better than cure. The country launched National Viral Hepatitis Control Program (NVHCP) on July 28, 2018. The program is likely to go a long way in providing diagnosis and treatment for the infected.

Started by the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) on July 28, 2018, ‘EMPATHY’ campaign was initially a four-year project funded by Airports Authority of India (AAI) under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Now, in its second iteration, ILBS has collaborated with ITC under its ‘Illness to Wellness’ programme propagate further the ethos of the EMPATHY campaign.