The Week in Review: May 12, 2017 – May 19, 2017

This page is an archive. Its content may no longer be accurate and was last updated on the original publication date. It is intended for reference and as a historical record only. For hep C questions, call Help4Hep BC at 1-888-411-7578.

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Friday, May 19, 2017

News Recap

Canada
Help4Hep – BC Helpline Now Online: Did you know that there is now a British Columbia toll-free hepatitis C peer-to-peer helpline where you can get accurate information and meaningful help that is free of charge and confidential?  Check it out now! Help4Hep – BC Helpline Now Online

URGENT! Patient and Caregiver Input Request: We Need to Hear your Voice! Patient and Caregiver input is requested by CADTH on AbbVie’s BRAND NEW (not yet for sale in Canada!) combo of glecaprevir and pibrentasvir (G/P) for Genotypes 1-6.  AbbVie’s G/P combo is pan-genotypic (works for all genotypes).  Check out the background information in link below to see the results that have been achieved in clinical trials to date. You will see that the cure rates are very high.  Please help us help others in Canada by filling out the short questionnaire for patients and caregivers to submit to Patient Group HepCBC. Patient and Caregiver input is requested by CADTH on AbbVie’s combo of glecaprevir and pibrentasvir (G/P)

More than three decades after a blood transfusion gave him HIV and HCV, LaSalle’s Jim Moauro is appealing to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “do the right thing” for hundreds of victims like him. Moauro has written Trudeau, federal Health Minister Jane Philpott and every MP in the country seeking federal compensation for Canadians sickened by the blood supply prior to 1986. They were not covered by the large government-supported settlement for victims infected between 1986 and 1990. Man who got hepatitis C, HIV from tainted blood asks PM for compensation

Did You Know?
Well at least the USA got one thing right!  They not only recommend testing Baby Boomers but they have actually declared May as Hepatitis C Awareness Month and May 19 as National Hepatitis C Testing Day!  (Hmm…I wonder how long it will take #45 to nix this?). According to the CDC (NOT fake news), many people live with chronic hepatitis for decades without symptoms and may be unaware of having the infection. The CDC encourages health care providers to educate patients about HCV and viral hepatitis testing. CDC: National Hepatitis C Testing Day is May 19

And get this: Reports from the 25th International Harm Reduction Conference (HR17) in Montréal show that, contrary to popular belief, reinfection in people on opioid substitution therapy who have successfully cleared HCV with DAAs is uncommon. Hepatitis C Virus Reinfection is Uncommon for Those on Opiate Substitution Therapy after Being Cured with DAAs