Note: Better integrating the responses to the intersection of HIV, viral hepatis, STIs, and substance use is identified as an imperative in the HIV, Viral Hepatitis, and STI National Strategic Plans.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) invites stakeholders to provide written or verbal public comment on the draft Viral Hepatitis Federal Implementation Plan 2021-2025. HHS values input from all stakeholders and will take all public comments into consideration before finalizing the Viral Hepatitis Federal Implementation Plan 2021-2025.

This plan outlines federal partners’ commitments to realizing the goals of the Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan for the United States: A Roadmap to Elimination (2021-2025), a framework to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat in the United States.

HHS is hosting a webinar on Thursday, November 18, 2021 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. (ET) to share details about the development process and highlight components from the Federal Implementation Plan. You will hear directly from federal partners on their viral hepatitis activities. During this webinar, HHS also invites stakeholders to provide public comment.

Register today to participate on November 18, 2021, from 1:00-2:00pm ET. Registration is required and you can register here.

Written Comments
Submit written public comments to HepatitisPlanComments@hhs.gov before 5:00 p.m. (ET) Friday, November 19, 2021.

Verbal Comments
Participants can make verbal public comments of up to 3-minutes at the end of the webinar.

Guidelines for Verbal Comment

• When the public comment session opens, click on the “Raise Hand” feature in the webinar controls
• HHS will call on each person by name in the order that their hands were raised
• HHS will unmute your microphone when it is your turn to provide public comment
• When it is your turn to speak, clearly state your name and organization. All speakers will be provided 3 minutes to provide comments
• When you are done speaking, HHS will mute your microphone

The draft Viral Hepatitis Federal Implementation Plan 2021-2025 is available on hhs.gov/hepatitis. The Plan was developed by the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in coordination with federal agency partners.