Our Story
We areThe HepatitisFund
The Hepatitis Fund is the result of a longstanding partnership between the ZeShan Foundation, WHO, and US CDC.
Today it stands proud as the first and only grant making platform solely dedicated to the mission of ending viral hepatitis.
The spark
A historic commitment to end viral hepatitis
It was the late Mrs Laura Chen, Executive Chair of the ZeShan Foundation, who ultimately became the driving force behind the Fund. Determined to support the WHO in fighting the virus, in 2008 the ZeShan Foundation agreed to be a founding contributor to APAVH – an initiative co-founded by the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University, US CDC and WHO, and the first global effort working to eliminate viral hepatitis.
Moving forward:An idea with impact
As awareness around the threat of viral hepatitis built, so did determination to act. Fast forward to the first-ever World Hepatitis Summit in 2015, and it was here that conversations between the ZeShan Foundation, US CDC and WHO went to the next level – and the idea of a global funding mechanism was born.
The Hepatitis Fund begins
Seed-funded by ZeShan Foundation, #EndHep2030 launched early in 2017. The start of what was to become The Hepatitis Fund, the organisation was registered in Geneva two years later, with the first call for proposals launched in March 2019.
Key dates
Responding to a growing global momentum
Photo credits: THF/Claudia Molina; Pexels/Charanjeet Channi.