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Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. Teams Up With the American Liver Foundation to Launch Hepatitis C Public Awareness Campaign

Posted on: Monday, 27 June 2005, 09:00 CDT

Chicago, June 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., the 5th ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, has teamed up with The American Liver Foundation (ALF) to launch "THINK C" (The Hepatitis Information you Need to Know), a public awareness campaign aimed at educating Americans about hepatitis C and urging those at risk to get tested for the disease and discuss treatment options with their physician. Hepatitis C is a life threatening viral disease of the liver that infects approximately four million Americans and is the leading cause of liver transplants in the United States.

Hepatitis C is known as the "silent disease" because most people infected do not experience symptoms, causing the disease to go undetected. In fact, more than 70 percent of those infected with hepatitis C -- almost 2.8 million Americans -- have not yet been diagnosed because most people with the disease can feel and appear perfectly healthy for years, not knowing that the disease is slowly attacking their liver. If left untreated, hepatitis C can lead to severe liver injury and even death.

"The number of people infected with hepatitis C who have not been diagnosed is astounding. Many people are walking around with the disease, some up to 10 to 20 years, without even knowing they have it," said Congressman Jackson, Jr. "I partnered with the American Liver Foundation to lend a voice to this campaign to educate the public about the risk factors for hepatitis C, to encourage testing if they believe they are at risk and to seek treatment if they are positive."

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that is transmitted primarily through blood-to-blood contact. People at risk of contracting the disease are injection drug users, people who received a blood transfusion prior to 1992, health care or public safety workers who have been accidentally stuck by a needle, intranasal cocaine users, and those who have tattoos or body piercings. Vietnam veterans are also at high risk for the disease.

The combination therapy of pegylated interferon and ribavirin is the current standard of care for hepatitis C. Clinical trials have shown that this combination treatment eradicates the hepatitis C virus in more than half of the patients who are treated. There is no vaccine available for hepatitis C.

"The treatments for hepatitis C were designed to suppress the hepatitis C virus and stop or slow liver damage," said Dr. Theresa Wright, chief of the Viral Hepatitis Clinic and the Gastroenterology Section at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in San Francisco. "It is important for those who have been diagnosed with hepatitis C to speak with their doctor to determine if treatment is right for them."

More About Hepatitis C

Approximately 80 percent of people infected with acute hepatitis C develop a chronic infection, which can lead to severe liver problems, such as cirrhosis, permanent scarring of the liver. Cirrhosis is the seventh leading cause of death by disease, the third leading cause of death for people between the ages of 25 and 29 and kills approximately 27,000 Americans each year. Patients with cirrhosis are at risk for developing liver cancer and, eventually liver failure. In fact, about five percent of all people with hepatitis C will eventually need a liver transplant as a result of liver cancer or liver failure.

While hepatitis C affects people from all walks of life, studies show that the disease disproportionately affects minorities, particularly African and Hispanic Americans. African Americans not only have the highest rates of chronic hepatitis C, but also a higher mortality rate than Caucasians from resulting liver disease (i), a number that is expected to triple in the next ten years (ii).

As for the U.S. Hispanic population, about one out of every 50 Hispanics is infected with hepatitis C (iii). Additionally, Hispanics are 40 percent more likely to be infected with hepatitis C when compared to the general population (iv), according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on October 4, 2000.

About the Campaign

The THINK C campaign will begin today with public service announcements (PSAs) featuring Jesse Jackson, Jr. airing on radio stations around the country and appearing on the Web.

The PSA spots, scheduled to air for the next three months, urge people who believe they are at risk for hepatitis C to contact The American Liver Foundation at (800) GO-LIVER or visit http://www.liverfoundation.org/.

About the ALF

The ALF has 26 chapter offices nationwide, with the newest just created in Hawaii. It provides educational workshops and seminars, runs support groups, works with the media to increase the awareness of hepatitis and other liver diseases, and meets with local, state and federal policy makers to affect positive change. ALF supports research primarily in two ways: first, by advocating federal policy makers to secure increases in government funding for liver disease; and second, by directly funding young scientists in order to attract them to the lifelong study of liver disease and patient care. ALF sponsors numerous fundraising events and campaigns to support all of these efforts.

(i) "Group Issues Guidelines To Educate African Americans About Viral Hepatitis" October 2001. The National Medical Association (NMA). http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/news/102401a.html (ii) "Group Issues Guidelines To Educate African Americans About Viral Hepatitis" October 2001. The National Medical Association (NMA). http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/news/102401a.html (iii) HIVandHepatitis.com - Digestive Disease Week Report, LOLA, http://www.lola-national.org/press/press1.htm (iv) LOLA fact sheet, http://www.lola-national.org/resources/hep-c.htm and "Racial differences in knowledge regarding hepatitis C virus infection." JAMA. 2000 Oct 4;284(13):1651-2.

American Liver Foundation

CONTACT: Andrea Iraheta of American Liver Foundation,+1-212-668-1000 ext. 139, airaheta@liverfoundation.org; or David Freundel ofManning Selvage & Lee, +1-212-468-3982, david.freundel@mslpr.com

Web site: http://www.liverfoundation.org/http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/news/102401a.htmlhttp://www.lola-national.org/press/press1.htmhttp://www.lola-national.org/resources/hep-c.htm

Source: PRNewswire

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