Difficult Issues now Coming into Focus within HCV+ Community

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.

There are many difficult questions members have brought to us recently including :

  • What is a person’s responsibility to disclose their HCV+ status on employment applications, mortgage applications, insurance forms (for extended health, mortgage, life, and even burial insurance), to intimate partners, colleagues, etc.?

  • If a person still shows antibodies for HCV, but cleared it on their own, or through treatment, are they still considered HCV+ and to “have an infectious disease”?

  • Is HCV an infectious disease, a disability, or both?  What are the implications?

  • Is there adequate HCV surveillance and treatment in Canada’s northern, rural and First Nations communities?

  • Is it easier for a citizen to get their treatment costs covered for HIV or cancer than for HCV, and if so, why?

  • Is sufficient training, funding and support being provided to help doctors and nurses treat HCV with the new direct-acting antivirals?

  • Can/Should the provincial Pharmacare approval process for new HCV drugs be expedited, and possibly standardized for the entire country?

With your help, we hope to highlight various points of view on some of these issues on this website over the coming months. We welcome your comments!

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