Compiled
and edited
by Martin Flynn
Wake up to 'the sleeping giant' of Hep C
page 1 of 6
contents
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Drug campaigners, doctors, activists and government officials
united to launch a new campaign to raise public awareness about the growing
Hepatitis C (Hep C) epidemic in the UK.
Entitled 'Wake up to Hep C' the campaign comes after it became clear that
the disease infects - as far as anyone knows - 200,000 people in England
alone.
Speaking at the House of Commons, Neil Gerrard MP, chairman of the All
Party Parliamentary Group on Aids (APPG-Aids), said that there was a worldwide
lack of awareness about the impact of the liver disease.
The growing problems of intravenous drug use was not included in last
year's government strategy on sexual health and HIV, he said, making it
all the more
necessary for a national campaign to tackle Hep C.
Drug users and recipients of contaminated blood products, such as haemophiliacs,
are particularly vulnerable to Hep C but there is increasing evidence
that the disease is spreading sexually, particularly among gay men and
people with HIV.
Basil Williams, chief executive of Mainliners, called Hep C "A hidden
epidemic...a sleeping giant."
The Hep C campaign will include a range of events across the country,
culminating in a national Day of Awareness on 1 July 2003.
Nigel Hawkes, chief executive of the British Liver Trust, said the number
of people with HCV is "totally unknown": and the figure of 200,000
in England with the disease is based on analysis of just 3,000 blood serum
samples.
Grant McNally, chair of the UK Assembly on Hepatitis C, said there was
a need for a national voice
for people with Hep C to counter the negative publicity against drug users, to encourage testing, battle against fears of disclosure and campaign for consistent standards of
