KOWSAR abi Nami 5 A R T I C L E I N F O Article type: Meeting Report Article history: Received: 16 May 2012 Revised: 26 May 2012 Accepted: 06 Jun 2012 Keywords: Hepatitis C Congresses Iran Hepat Mon.2012;12(7):423-429. DOI: 10.5812/hepatmon.6679 www.HepatMon.com Hepatitis C Virus: The Rising Concerns and Growing Hopes, Report From the HCV Symposium, Fourth Tehran Hepatitis Congress, November 2011, Tehran, Iran Seyed Moayed Alavian 1, Hossain Jabbari 2, 3, Nasser Ebrahimi Daryani 4*, Mohammad Tor- 1 Baqiyatallah Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Disease, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran 2 Digestive Disease Research Institute (DDRI), Infectious Diseases Department, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran 3 Vienna General Hospital (AKH), Univ. Department of Dermatology, Department of Clinical Immunology, Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Wien, Austria 4 Departments of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran 5 Department of Neuroscience, Institute for Cognitive Science Studies, Shahid Beheshti Medical University, Tehran, IR Iran A B S T R A C T The rising concerns for future health burden of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in global scale has continuously encouraged preventing measures particularly public awareness pro- grams. There is an increasing necessity for allocating HCV awareness issues in public scope, especially for high risk populations and patients. Proper knowledge of health care professionals and treating physicians and their attitude with regard to hepatitis C man- agement is also crucial. Achieving this can be a constructive step forward in controlling and hopefully eradicating hepatitis C virus in our community. Having a clear scientific grasp on treatment options and protocols, the concept of “CURE” achievement in hepa- titis C and the future hopes in enhancing virological response with the coming direct antiviral agents can significantly add to the current practices of treating hepatitis C. This scientific report paper outlines the insights communicated at the HCV symposium dur- ing the 4th Tehran Hepatitis Congress, November 2011, Tehran, Iran. Copyright c 2012 Kowsar Corp. All rights reserved. Implication for health policy/practice/research/medical education: Proper knowledge of health care professionals and treating physicians and their attitude with regard to hepatitis C management is cru- cial. this can be a constructive step forward in controlling and hopefully eradicating hepatitis C virus in our communityand it also can be helpful for many people such as patients who suffer Hepatitis C , the Liver Physicians and the Scientists who are interested in these fields. Please cite this paper as: Alavian SM, Jabbari H, Ebrahimi Daryani N, Torabi Nami M. Hepatitis C Virus: The Rising Concerns and Growing Hopes, Report From the HCV Symposium, Fourth Tehran Hepatitis Congress, November 2011, Tehran, Iran. Hepat Mon. 2012;12(7): 423-9. DOI: 10.5812/hepatmon.6679 1. Introduction The 4th Tehran Hepatitis Congress (THC4) as an inter- national forum for presenting “state-of-the-art” and cut- ting edge updates in clinical care of viral hepatitis basic researches, was held from the 23rd to 26th of November, 2011 in Tehran, Iran. During the first day of the event a well- * Corresponding author: Nasser Ebrahimi Daryani, Department of Gastro- enterology and Hepatology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran. Tel: +98-2188799446, Fax: +98-218879984, E-mail: nasere@yahoo.com DOI: 10.5812/hepatmon.6679 Copyright c 2012 Kowsar Corp. All rights reserved. focused symposium “HCV; the rising concerns and growing hopes” was conducted. The global and local burden of HCV, treatment updates and the concept of cure achievement in hepatitis C treatment were detailed and discussed. This ar- ticle tries to outline main issues and insights, which were communicated during the above scientific session.