Honourable Minister Padilha,
Honourable Ministers Budi and Lustemberg, and Deputy Minister Phaahla,
Civil society advocate Marcela Alsina,
My colleague, WHO Regional Director Dr Jarbas Barbosa,
Honourable Ministers, dear colleagues and friends,
It is a privilege to join you for this high-level commemoration of World Hepatitis Day.
My sincere thanks to the Government of Brazil for co-hosting this event with WHO, and for its longstanding leadership in advancing public health, universal health coverage and equitable access to care.
My thanks also to President Lula for his leadership in the fight against hepatitis, which reflects a lifelong conviction that quality health care must reach those whom poverty and exclusion too often leave behind.
Last year, WHO validated Brazil for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, making it the most populous country in the Americas to reach this milestone.
It proved that sustained political commitment, strong primary care and investment in public health deliver results.
And the progress Brazil is now making towards eliminating mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B shows that the same approach can succeed again.
Today, World Hepatitis Day is a reminder of both a tragedy and an opportunity.
The tragedy is that viral hepatitis continues to claim more than a million lives every year, from diseases that we can prevent, detect and treat.
The opportunity is that we already have many of the tools needed to change this picture.
The question is no longer whether hepatitis can be eliminated as a public health threat. The question is whether we have the political will to do it.
We honour those leading this fight: the frontline health workers whose dedication saves lives every day;
The communities, families and people with lived experience whose voices drive change and accountability;
And the national programmes, civil society organizations, partners and donors moving the response forward.
This year's theme, "Hepatitis: Let's break it down," is a call to dismantle the barriers that keep millions of people from the services they need.
It is a call to replace fragmentation with integration, inequity with access, and promises with action.
This World Hepatitis Day, WHO is calling for action in five areas.
First, turn evidence into action. We have vaccines, diagnostics, a cure for hepatitis C and lifelong therapy for hepatitis B.
The challenge is not discovering what works. The challenge is delivering these tools to everyone who needs them.
So WHO calls on countries to strengthen political commitment, increase investment and scale up proven policies and interventions.
Second, put communities at the centre.
People with lived experience, civil society and community organizations are not simply beneficiaries of the response; they are essential partners in shaping and delivering it.
WHO calls for their meaningful engagement in policy-making, service delivery and accountability, so that programmes are responsive, trusted and effective.
Third, close the access gap.
Millions of people still cannot obtain prevention, testing or treatment because of where they live, who they are or what they can afford.
This is both a public health failure and an equity failure.
WHO calls for urgent action to expand access to quality services, with particular attention to underserved and vulnerable populations, so that no one is left behind.
Fourth, integrate hepatitis services into primary health care and universal health coverage.
People should not have to navigate fragmented systems to obtain care.
WHO calls for a multisectoral, people-centred and human rights-based approach that addresses the broader barriers standing between people and care.
And fifth, invest in innovation.
Today's tools can save millions of lives, but further advances are essential to finish the job.
WHO calls for greater investment in research and development, particularly for hepatitis B and hepatitis D, alongside expanded access to affordable diagnostics, medicines and new technologies.
Colleagues and friends,
We are not starting from zero. We know how to prevent hepatitis.
We know how to diagnose it. We know how to treat it.
The barriers that remain are not primarily scientific. They are political, financial and operational. That means they are barriers we can remove.
We can continue at the current pace and accept millions more preventable infections and deaths.
Or we can act with the urgency this moment demands.
On this World Hepatitis Day, let us choose action.
Let us invest in strong health systems.
Let us expand access to testing and treatment.
Let us put communities at the centre of the response.
And let us fulfil our shared commitment to end viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
WHO stands ready to support every country in that effort.
Muito obrigado. I thank you.