Coalition formed to raise awareness of threat from hepatitis C

Despite the significant health threat from hepatitis C, a recent statewide survey shows that, while one in six Washington residents know someone who has hepatitis C, 65 percent of those surveyed are not aware that hepatitis C is potentially more serious than hepatitis A or B.

At a press conference in December, Robert Carithers, left, and Jeff Duchin spoke to reporters about the Hepatitis C Coalition. Photo by Gavin Sisk

Nearly 100,000 people in Washington may have hepatitis C, which can lead to fatal liver disease, and 75,000 of them may not even know it (based on national averages).

In an effort to raise awareness of hepatitis C in Washington state, more than 85 organizations across the state-including blood banks, hospitals, public health departments, physicians and health organizations-have joined forces to form the Washington Hepatitis C Coalition.

At a news conference held at UW Medical Center in December, several Coalition leaders discussed their collaboration. Among those present were Dr. Robert Carithers Jr., coalition medical advisory board chair and UW professor of medicine; Dr. Jeff Duchin, chief of communicable disease control and epidemiology for Seattle-King Co. Public Health; Barbara Hernandez, director of the American Liver Foundation’s Pacific Northwest Chapter; and Steve Graham, president of the board for the Hepatitis Education Project.

The coalition is launching a public awareness campaign to make people more aware of this hidden disease. The goal is to encourage more people who might have been exposed to the disease - perhaps by IV drug use during their youth - to come in for testing.

Announcement of the Coalition came after a state House Health Care Committee hearing on hepatitis C and a report of the state Department of Correction on the serious problem of hepatitis C in prisons.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, an estimated 3.9 million Americans-or 1.8 percent of the population - are infected with the hepatitis C virus. Of that number, at lease 2.7 million people are chronically infected. Dubbed the “silent epidemic” by medical experts, hepatitis C is one of a family of viruses that can cause liver disease and often lurk undetected in people for up to 40 years with no symptoms. In the United States, 8,000 to 10,000 people die each year from hepatitis C-caused liver disease. ¶