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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Hepatitis C ‘Get Tested’ Ads on Buses across Northern BC
(Northern British Columbia, May 3, 2016)–Don’t be surprised to see these words rolling by you occasionally during the next few weeks: “You Can Have Hepatitis C and Not Know It. There is a Cure. Get Tested!” During the month of May, drivers, pedestrians, and bus riders in Prince George, Kitimat, Prince Rupert, Terrace, Dawson Creek, and Fort St. John will get to see an ad on local buses, urging them to get tested for hepatitis C. Although May is officially “Aboriginal Hepatitis C Awareness Month,” the ads show that this is not simply an Aboriginal issue. Members of a variety of cultural groups and ages, along with translations into several languages, show that anyone can have hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus often known as the “Silent Killer.”
Some interesting numbers: Every year since 2007, hepatitis C has killed more Canadians than HIV/AIDS. 77% of Canadians who have hepatitis C were born between 1945 and 1975. 44% of Canadians with hepatitis C don’t even know they have it! Liver cancer rates among men have tripled, mostly because of undiagnosed hepatitis C. People with hepatitis C often have no obvious symptoms for 20-40 years; meanwhile the virus is slowing and “silently” destroying the liver, eventually leading to cirrhosis, liver failure, liver cancer and other cancers, many other debilitating chronic conditions, and all too often, an early and preventable death.
While it is true that in 2016, people now using IV drugs are most at risk of transmitting or contracting hepatitis C, the fact is 80% of those now living with hepatitis C either were never users of IV drugs, or stopped using them long ago. Instead, great numbers of Canadians were infected through shared or improperly-sterilized needles and other medical equipment during the 1950s or 1960s and through pre-1992 blood transfusions. Particularly at risk are people who have lived in or had medical procedures in, countries where hepatitis C is common – even into the 1980s, 1990s, and beyond. Some got hepatitis C through a very short experimentation with drugs in which a needle or cocaine straw was shared, even just once at a long-forgotten party decades back. Hepatitis C was also commonly spread through unsterile, unprofessional tattoos or piercings in which equipment was shared.
Unfortunately, doctors rarely test their patients for hepatitis C, and patients rarely ask for the test. Many are embarrassed to ask about or discuss this highly-stigmatized disease. Now, the good news: As of the last couple years, hepatitis C is now curable, in most cases, through an all-oral, 6-12 week treatment, with few if any side-effects. If caught and treated early enough, patients will be able to live long and productive lives. Even if a patient doesn’t get treated, knowing one has the disease means being able to receive information about how to make lifestyle changes that will prolong life, and how to avoid passing on the disease to others. There are so many ways in which hepatitis C can be acquired; often it is impossible to know how it was acquired. Much more important than “knowing how a person got hepatitis C” is that everyone “knows their hepatitis C status” and is able to get any treatment they need.
Cheryl Reitz, Secretary of HepCBC Hepatitis C Education and Prevention Society (Vancouver and Victoria) says, “Anyone can have hepatitis C, and there is no shame in having this terrible but curable disease. Find out your hepatitis C status. At your next annual physical exam, ask your doctor for a simple, one-time-only, hepatitis C blood test. Finding out your hepatitis C status is the responsible thing to do.” The Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver, the Canadian Liver Foundation, and Action Hepatitis Canada all advocate that Canadian doctors should offer “Baby Boomer” patients one-time-only hepatitis C testing.
A grant from Northern Health Authority paid for the ads; HepCBC is proud to join with Positive Living North as its local partner. For more information contact HepCBC (www.hepcbc.bchep.org) or Positive Living North (www.positivelivingnorth.org).
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Contacts: [Orlando McLeish of Positive Living North (Prince George), or Cheryl Reitz of HepCBC]
Tel: [250-562-1172 (Orlando) OR 250-882-6024 (Cheryl)]
Email: [omcleish@positivelivingnorth.org OR creitz@hepcbc.bchep.org (Cheryl)]