World Issues: Health & Disability Hepatitis C - The "Silent Epidemic" by Joey 1. What are the main issues for this topic? The main issues are prevention and awareness of Hepatitis C and both of these issues can be dealt with through education. That's why I am calling for May to be recognized as "Hepatitis C Awareness Day". I believe that the most important thing to young people is prevention. Why? Hepatitis C is passed through the blood and in years past the most common way to get it was through a blood transfusion. That's how I got it. But with the testing that started in the mid 80's, the risk of infection through a blood transfusion is now minimal (although the risk remains - 30% in the 1960's to 1.3% in the late 1980's to 1 in 103, 000 today). The most common method of transmission today is dirty needles. IV drug use is the most common but tatoos and body piercing are also very dangerous. And who are at risk when talking about these methods? Young people that are experimenting and not knowing the danger that they are putting themselves in. The key to prevention is education about these dangers targeted at youth. Awareness of the disease is also very important as most people that have acquired it do not know they have it. Dr. Everett Koop,(former U.S. Surgeon General) said that of the 4.5 million Americans that have the disease, only 5 per cent (225,000) know they have it! That is why it is called the "silent epidemic". If people are not aware that they have Hepatitis C, they can unknowingly pass it on and perpetuate this epidemic. Also, by not being aware of their infection, they will not make the necessary life choices to help them cope with the debilitating effects of the disease. 2. What are some regional examples of these issues? This is a growing epidemic in the Americas: Canada - 300, 000 people infected (according to Health Canada, there were 3,654 new cases of Hepatitis C reported from Jan 1, 1999 to March 31, 1999 - this is a major problem) USA - 4.5 million people infected * It is estimated that 170 million persons worldwide may be infected with Hepatitis C 3. How does this issue affect me (at the personal level)? I personally have Hepatitis C. I have had 148 blood transfusions to date (I was born with a rare blood disorder where I don't make red blood cells and need a transfusion every 4-6 weeks) and one (or more) of the units of blood that I was transfused with was contaminated with Hepatitis C. I have been living with this disease since at least 1991 (when I was told I had Hep C). I am now 18 years old and have been living with Hepatitis C for at least ten years. Two years ago I spent 67 days biking across Canada raising awareness of Hepatitis C and collected 35,000 signatures which I presented to prime Minister Chretien. I have been working with member's of Parliament at both the provincial and Federal level to have May recognized as Hepatitis Awareness Month in Canada. If they knew what I know, they would do every thing they could to help stop the spread of this disease. 4. How does this issue affect youth in my community? While I was traveling across Canada, one of the memorable events happened in Manitoba. Parents of a 12 year old girl infected with Hepatitis C saw me on one of my news conferences in Winnipeg. They flew their daughter home the next day and caught up with us two days later in Brandon, Manitoba. They wanted her to meet me because she was having a hard time dealing with the issues of living with the disease. She wanted to know how I told my friends etc. In other words, she needed a peer to talk to, someone who had gone through it. Adults have support groups but what about kids? We have different things to cope with but to us, our issues are just as important! Again, the education and information that would arise from having May recognized as Hepatitis C awareness month would go a long way to removing some of the stigmatism of this disease and therefore help people like my friend in Manitoba, and countless others. 5. How does this issue affect youth in the Americas? This affects youth (us) in two major ways ... 1 - as discussed, we are at risk at being infected through our lifestyle choices. It is natural for youth to experiment (peer pressure?) but if they are educated to the dangers of particular lifestyle choices, they can then make an informed and hopefully, more intelligent decision! 2 - as young people, we will inherit the cost of today's epidemic when we take over the economies of our respective countries. In other words, inaction by us today will increase the mortgage of our futures tomorrow. This is why we must put forward a resolution to April's meeting of the Leader's of the America's. By having May declared as Hepatitis Awreness Month, we will be helping our peers today as well as tomorrow. We owe it to ourselves! Sources used in the creation of this article: 1: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/lcdc/bid/bbp/hepcmeme.html Health Canada 2. http://www.who.int/emc/diseases/hepatiti/jvh139.pdf World Health Organization 3. http://www.epidemic.org