About
Project overview
The project aimed to gather and promote the experience of people living with viral hepatitis. This has not been sufficiently highlighted to either policymakers or the general public, in contrast, for example, to HIV.
Our grantees worked on a crowdsourcing challenge contest to encourage the submission of stories about how hepatitis affects individuals and communities. As a result of the project, LSHTM partnered with the National Liver
Foundation of Bangladesh for a follow-up project to use crowdsourcing to raise awareness,
promote HBV/HCV testing and reduce stigma.
Context
Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) contribute substantially to global morbidity and mortality. More than 325 million globally are affected by viral Hepatitis B and C, which is ten times larger than the global HIV epidemic.
Every hour, over 150 people die of viral hepatitis-related liver diseases, including liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (1). People in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are most affected by the two viral hepatitis.
To address the above challenges, public engagement is essential for raising awareness of hepatitis, generating community-centred solutions, and informing messages to spur policy change. Nevertheless, the public voice is often ignored, and powerful human stories of viral hepatitis are missed.
Innovative strategies are needed to engage the public better, especially people living with or affected by chronic hepatitis in regions with a high burden of hepatitis B and C. Crowdsourcing may provide an opportunity to help improve public participation and awareness.
Crowdsourcing shifts traditionally individual tasks to large groups, often through challenge contests.
Outcomes
The grantees received 119 submissions from 27 countries. The crowdsourcing findings have important implications for future research and practices. The project provided an opportunity for community engagement and amplified the voices of people with viral hepatitis and advocates for viral hepatitis healthcare services. Crowdsourcing can encourage people to share compelling stories, resulting in people-centred solutions open to future hepatitis interventions.
"Let’s not whisper, let’s speak loudly and openly about who we are, how we feel, and lend a hand to the others like us"