Meet WHA's new president
Dee Lee is a highly active, unignorable presence in the global health sector. Following 15 years as the Founder and Director of the Inno Community Development Organisation, he became the Director of Inno Asia in 2023 – but is also the Chair of the Steering Group for the International Liver Cancer Movement, a Fellow of the Asia Society, and a member of both CEVHAP and ICE-HBV.
Based in China, Dee has long represented the rights of hepatitis patients who cannot access treatment, and employees wrongfully terminated based on blood tests. Thanks to his efforts, in 2014, 200 factories in China ended their hepatitis B screening policy, directly covering more than one million workers.
Dee brings his own lived experience of hepatitis B, and understands the mission and vision of WHA. A WPRO Regional Board Member from 2015-2019, he resumed the role again in 2024, determined to speed-up the process of a functional cure for hepatitis B and to reduce stigma and discrimination as barriers to the elimination of viral hepatitis worldwide.
Here is Dee in his own words:
Every 30 seconds, while the world looks the other way, another life is extinguished by viral hepatitis. That’s two people gone since I sat in this chair.
I didn’t get into this work to look at spreadsheets or attend polite galas. I got into this because at two years old, my blood was contaminated by the very system meant to protect me. I have lived the discrimination; I have felt the shame; and I have seen the global apathy that treats 300 million people like they are invisible.
I am here as the President of the World Hepatitis Alliance not to ask for a seat at the table, but to flip the table over. We have the vaccines, we have the cures, and we have the tools. The only thing we are missing is the courage to act. Today, the ‘silent killer’ finally gets a voice—and we are going to be very, very loud.
What first motivated you to become a hepatitis advocate?
For years, I played the game and stayed silent, but the moment I hit the ‘real world,’ I hit a wall of discrimination that made me feel like a sinner for the sin that I never committed. That spark of anger didn’t fade; it turned into a wildfire. I didn’t just choose to advocate; I chose to fight. I refuse to let one more person live in the shadows of shame for a virus they didn’t ask for. I’m not just a patient; I’m the evidence that we can—and will—reclaim our dignity.
How important is it for people living with hepatitis to speak out?
Silence is where this virus thrives. We are talking about a ‘silent killer’ that is currently holding 300 million people hostage while the world looks the other way. We are a ghost population, marginalised and ignored. Speaking out is our act of rebellion. It is the only way to transform from victims into a political force that cannot be ignored. Every time one of us speaks, we save a life. If we stay quiet, we die. It’s that simple.
What motivated you to apply to become president?
One death every 30 seconds. While the world discusses ‘global health’ in air-conditioned rooms, my community is dying in the hospital. I didn’t apply to be a figurehead; I applied to be a catalyst. I am done watching 300 million people be treated as collateral damage. I took this seat to turn our collective pain into a global movement that is too loud to be suppressed.
What do you hope to achieve as president?
I am here to shatter the global apathy. We have the vaccines, we have the cures, and we have the diagnostic tools—the only thing missing is the political spine to use them. I want to make it impossible for any government to look at the 300 million people living with hepatitis and say, ‘not today.’ The era of asking nicely is over; the era of demanding action has begun.
How do you believe we can eliminate hepatitis by 2030?
If we keep going at this sluggish, half-hearted pace? We won’t. Now many governments are retreating, and policies are gathering dust. Some countries axed the hepatitis B vaccine recommendation. Some countries started programmes to criminalise each one of us in the ID system. But here is where my enthusiasm lies: the power has shifted. We will achieve 2030 not because of a government memo, but because the community is waking up. We will eliminate hepatitis by 2030 by becoming a nuisance to the status quo. We will fight back against the ‘norms’ until our right is treated as a human right, not a luxury. 2030 isn’t a deadline; it’s our battleground.