investments to support countries with greatest burden of viral hepatitis All heavily burdened countries to have fully funded elimination plans by 2019 Recognition of need to focus on high burden countries and support for national policy development (All) Funding for national elimination plans Creation of fiscal space for new programmes with costed investment programmes Adopt domestic innovative finance tools where appropriate Support national policy makers in their activity (WHO, UNITAID, NGOs) Provide international support for financing measures (UNITAID, GFATM, bilaterial donors) Prevention Ensure all WHO elimination targets addressed in plans Address operational challenges in delivery of birth dose HBV vaccine Ensure provision of harm reduction services and engage with marginalised group (e.g. prisoners, PWIDs). Ensure clear public health messages to encourage testing and treatment Support countries to decriminalise injecting drug use and ensure equitable access to services for all (NGOs, WHO, civil society) Ensure appropriate funding for HBV vaccine, including birth dose (GAVI, WHO) Support R&D into HCV vaccine development (Research funders and pharma) Testing and Models of Care Focus on substantially scaling up testing for HBV and HCV Create and evaluate simplified care pathways relevant to local setting, integrating with existing services. Promote task sharing and decentralisation of care through capacity building, training and removal of Support operational research into simplified pathways (Research funders, UNITAID) requirements for specialised prescribing Diagnostics Ensure testing is integrated into the wider healthcare system, rather than centralised facilties Ensure access to quality diagnostics through Essential Diagnostic List and prequalification (WHO, funders) Support implementation science for models of care and R&D into novel diagnostics suitable for decentralised settings. (Research funders, FIND, industry) Access to treatment Ensure all Essential Medicines for viral hepatitis are included in national programmes, with an emphasis on pan-genotypic regimens Apply comprehensive policy approach to promoting access, including compulsory licensing Ensure all essential medicines are pre-qualified and either available through voluntary licensing or Medicines Patent Pool (WHO, NGOs, civil society, funders) Support shared procurement mechanisms for treatment (PAHO) Monitor Progress National plans need clearly defined, measurable objectives Develop new indices of national progress Progress of individual countries needs to be closely monitored towards elimination goals (Polaris, WHO, Creation of Elimination Index) Develop greater capacity for advocacy in high burden regions (all) Viral hepatitis is one of the leading causes of death in the world. 96% of those deaths are due to hepatitis B and C, which are the focus of this commission. Unlike many other major diseases, the tools exist to eliminate viral hepatitis. A highly effective vaccine is available to prevent hepatitis B, and a revolution in HCV treat...

Three-finger fold toxins are miniproteins frequently found in Elapidae snake venoms. This fold is characterized by three distinct loops rich in b-strands and emerging from a dense, globular core reticulated by four highly conserved disulfide bridges. The number and diversity of receptors, channels, and enzymes identified as targets of three-finger fold toxins is increasing continuously. Such manifold diversity highlights the specific adaptability of this fold for generating pleiotropic functions. Although this toxin superfamily disturbs many biological functions by interacting with a large diversity of molecular targets, the most significant target is the cholinergic system. By blocking the activity of the nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors or by inhibiting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, three-finger fold toxins interfere most drastically with neuromuscular junction functioning. Several of these toxins have become powerful pharmacological tools for studying the function and structure of their molecular targets. Most importantly, since dysfunction of these receptors/enzyme is involved in many diseases, exploiting the three-finger scaffold to create novel, highly specific therapeutic agents may represent a major future endeavor.