The National Viral Hepatitis Action Plan Partner Planning Guide Has Arrived!

We are excited to announce a new tool that we hope will help you in your work to combat viral hepatitis in your community, the National Viral Hepatitis Action Plan 2017-2020 (Action Plan) Partner Planning Guide (Guide). This strategic planning resource is designed for use by individuals, groups, and organizations that are conducting strategic planning efforts for hepatitis B (HBV) and/or hepatitis C (HCV).

The Guide can help you, your agency, or organization to assess existing activities and plan new ones that align with the Action Plan and contribute toward reaching our national viral hepatitis goals. The Action Plan is a strategic framework that identifies four goals for the nation, specific strategies to guide our nation’s response, and indicators to monitor progress toward those national goals. By aligning goals and sharing strategies among partners, engaging stakeholders across sectors, leveraging advances, and confronting challenges, we can chart a course toward elimination of viral hepatitis. Details about the goals, strategies, indicators, and more in the Action Plan can be found here.

Everyone has a role to play in the battle against viral hepatitis. But many groups that are new to viral hepatitis, as well as those with ongoing activities, may not know where to start or which activities are aligned with and contribute toward reaching our national goals. The Guide is a tool that can support stakeholders of all types and sizes, from all sectors to build or strengthen their viral hepatitis activities by identifying national strategies that fit within your organization’s existing priorities, resources, and desired outcomes; encouraging strategic partnerships; and joining in collective efforts to achieve the goals of the Action Plan. Using the questions and outline provided in the Guide to facilitate discussion of ideas, potential activities, challenges, tools, resources, and partnerships leading to a customized local viral hepatitis plan based on the needs of the communities and populations you serve. We cannot achieve our national vision of eliminating hepatitis B and C without support, commitment, and action from a broad mix of stakeholders, both public and private.

The Action Plan Partner Planning Guide is a tool for your planning process.

The Guide features a section on each national goal that includes a brief summary of the goal, strategies from the Action Plan, links to recommended actions and opportunities for stakeholders, and initial discussion questions for groups to use during planning efforts. The Guide recommends six steps for partners to take that will help them develop activities that are tailored to their organizations, responsive to the local epidemic(s), and provide opportunities for collaboration. The steps are to:

1. Know your epidemiology
2. Know your capacity
3. Set your goals
4. Choose the best strategies
5. Engage stakeholders
6. Plan your actions.

The steps are described in this graphic, which can be downloaded or printed for use in your planning process. The Guide includes additional support for strategic planning, including key discussion questions related to Action Plan goals and Action Planning Worksheets to document strategic plans and share with leadership and key partners.

All federal and nonfederal stakeholders are essential to achieving Action Plan goals.

More than 20 agencies and offices spanning four federal departments are currently engaged in implementing the Action Plan, along with countless non-federal partners. As we launch the Guide, we recognize that there are additional stakeholders in communities across the U.S. that are doing work related to the goals of the Action Plan. Whether your work is already underway or you are just starting, we invite you to join us in this national effort to address viral hepatitis. Learn more on how to become a partner here.

Find more information on the new Action Plan Partner Planning page.

On this page, you can find more partner planning resources.