Significant public health issues invariably arise, but the trajectory is not always obvious. Deborah Komlos of Clarivate discusses how such has been the case for viral hepatitis, which has been called a “silent epidemic”. In 2011, the United States (US) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published the first US action plan to better focus and coordinate the country’s response to the disease. The latest iteration of the plan is effective until 2020.