To: NVHR Member Organizations
From: Martha Saly, NVHR Administrator
Re: Public Meeting, Thursday, December 4, 2008: Institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis Infections in the United States

Begin forwarded message:

The Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis Infections will hold a public meeting from 1:00 to 5:00 PM on Thursday, December 4, 2008. This meeting will be held in the Board Room at the National Academy of Sciences building, 2100 C St., NW, Washington, DC.
Directions can be found on the following website:
http://www.nationalacademies.org/about/contact/nas.html.

This committee’s task is to determine ways to reduce new hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections and the morbidity and mortality related to chronic viral hepatitis. The committee will assess current prevention and control activities and identify priorities for research, policy, and action. Also, it will highlight issues that warrant further investigations and opportunities for collaboration between private and public sectors. Finally, the committee will address the special needs of specific subpopulations at high risk, such as Asian Americans, African Americans, and persons born in HBV endemic countries. This project is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Task Force for Child Survival and Development (on behalf of the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable).

The following invited speakers are scheduled to present information to the committee:
John Ward, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Chris Taylor, National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable; Martha Saly, National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable; Dale Hu, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Cindy Weinbaum, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Lorren Sandt, Caring Ambassadors Program; Joan Block, Hepatitis B Foundation

If you plan to attend the meeting, please register via the project website or send your name, affiliation (if applicable), and contact information to viralhepatitis@nas.edu. Please indicate if you would like to present information to the committee during the public comment period.

The committee also will accept submission of written materials. You can bring them to the meeting or send them via email (viralhepatitis@nas.edu), fax (202- 334-2939), or mail (Institute of Medicine, Keck Center-8th floor, Board on Population Health-Viral Hepatitis Study, 500 Fifth St., NW, Washington, DC 20001). Please note that any comments that you submit to the committee, including your name and identifying information, will not be kept confidential and will be included in a Public Access File in accordance with Section 15 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

Additional information about the project can be found on the following website: http://www.iom.edu/viralhepatitis.

We will send 3-5 messages over the course of this project regarding public meetings, release of the committee's report, and other project information. If you wish to unsubscribe at anytime, you can use the following link:
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/ mail_list/default.asp?list_id=891&action=unsubscribe.

If you know of others who may be interested in this project, please forward this message to them. Thank you.