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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Cherokee Nation has screened more than 40,000 tribal citizens for hepatitis C after becoming the first tribe in the country to launch an elimination project two years ago with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Oct. 30 was declared as Hepatitis C Awareness Day in the Cherokee Nation, and tribal and Cherokee Nation Health Services officials gathered for a proclamation signing ceremony.
The tribe’s goal is to screen 80,000 patients between the ages of 20 and 65 for hepatitis C over three years. Last October the tribe had screened 23,000 of its health services patients.
Of those screened, about 1,200 new patients tested positive and more than 680 patients are either currently being treated for hepatitis C or have already been cured.