Alavian SM et al. Before After No, I Don't Yes, I Believe Yes, I believe No, I don't Figure 6. “CURE” for Hepatitis C From the evidence for cure achievement there are two re- ports by Mann M. et al. (29) and Swain MG et al. (19), which suggest that SVR achievement by PegIFNα 2 b or 2a, would lead to almost 99% sustainability of response in a five year follow up. There are only less than 1% of patients who have relapsed after SVR. Based on these data, SVR (24 weeks af- ter therapy with PegIFNα ± RBV) predicts long-term clear- ance of HCV. Consequently successful treatment (i.e. SVR) of hepatitis-C with PegIFN α (± RBV) leads to clinical cure of this chronic disease (Figure 5). At this symposium, we evaluated the attitude of the participants by asking them the question whether they believe there is a realistic con- cept of cure in hepatitis C management. After asking the question, participants either raised the red (NO) or green (Yes) cards they were already provided with. Their pre- and post-communication attitude with regard to hepati- tis C cure concept is illustrated in Figure 6. 4. Conclusion This communication in a form of a dedicated HCV sym- posium during the 4th Tehran Hepatitis Congress (THC4) November 2011 in Tehran, Iran aimed at shedding light to some cardinal issues with regard to current practices in the field of hepatitis C: public health implications of HCV; the rising concerns and growing hopes for HCV eradica- tion, treatment management with the standard of care HCV; the Rising Concerns and Growing Hopes approach; the evidence for “CURE” achievement, and the future for HCV therapy were the main topics discussed during the event. Pre and post communication, assess- ment of the participants’ attitude with regard to the con- cept of “CURE” achievement in hepatitis C was done, sug- gesting the effectiveness of the activity. Conduction of such a kind scientific symposia with the contribution of expert panels should be even more encouraged in regu- lar basis. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Drs. S.AR.Hejazi Far- ahmand, M.Zanganeh, M.Abdi, H.Rouhani Najafabadi, M.Afarid and Ms. R.Mostafavi for their contribution dur- ing the THC4-HCV symposium. Authors’ Contribution All authors contributed equally to this work. All authors discussed the results and implications and commented on the manuscript at all stages. Financial Disclosure None Declared. Funding Support This communication in a form of a symposium has been made possible through funding supports of Behes- tandarou PJS. References 1. Armstrong GL, Alter MJ, McQuillan GM, Margolis HS. The past in- cidence of hepatitis C virus infection: implications for the future burden of chronic liver disease in the United States. Hepatology. 2000;31(3):777-82. 2. Alavian SM, Ahmadzad-Asl M, Lankarani KB, Shahbabaie MA, Bahrami Ahmadi A, Kabir A. Hepatitis C infection in the general population of Iran: a systematic review. Hepat Mon. 2009;9(3):211- 23. 3. Alavian SM, Tabatabaei SV, Mahboobi N. Epidemiology and risk factors of HCV infection among hemodialysis patients in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office of WHO (EMRO): a quantitative review of literature. J Public Health. 2011;19(2):191-203. 4. Samimi-Rad K, Nategh R, Malekzadeh R, Norder H, Magnius L. Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis C virus in Iran as re- flected by phylogenetic analysis of the NS5B region. J Med Virol. 2004;74(2):246-52. 5. Sarin SK, Kapoor D. natural history of hepatitis virus infection- risk factors for disease progression. JK-Practitioner. 2001;8(4):201- 5. 6. Wasley A, Miller JT, Finelli L. Surveillance for acute viral hepatitis- -United States, 2005. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2007;56(3):1-24. 7. Clinical aspects of liver disease In: Kuntz E, Kuntz HD, editors. Hepatology: Textbook and Atlas : History, Morphology, Biochemistry, Diagnostics, Clinic, Therapy. Heidelberg: Springer; 2008. 8. Environmental SCDoHa. Viral Hepatitis. Atlanta, GA: Control Centers for Disease Control 2007 [updated 2007; cited 2012 May 29]; Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/index.htm. 9. Huang H, Shiffman ML, Friedman S, Venkatesh R, Bzowej N, Abar OT, et al. A 7 gene signature identifies the risk of develop- ing cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Hepatology. 428 Hepat Mon. 2012