Thursday, 26 July 2012
Local people who may be at risk from hepatitis are being encouraged to get tested as World Hepatitis Day is marked.
The Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Public Health Team, part of Public Health Wales, is using the annual event to remind people of the need to be tested if they think they have put themselves at risk of contracting the virus.
On 28 July every year, the World Health Organization holds World Hepatitis Day to raise awareness of the virus – and this year is warning that hepatitis may be “closer than you think.”
It’s estimated that up to 14,000 people in the UK have hepatitis C but don’t know about it – but could receive life-saving treatment if they were tested for the virus.
Hepatitis B often has no symptoms and most adults will recover from the infection without treatment, but in some cases they may go on to develop a chronic infection leading to liver cancer or cirrhosis of the liver.
Hepatitis C can also be cleared from the body without treatment but only in around 10 to 15 per cent of cases. Other sufferers may never develop symptoms but are at risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver in later life, which may be fatal.
The Public Health Team is reminding local people of the ways in which hepatitis can be passed from person to person, and advising anyone who has put themselves at risk in the past to be tested.
Dr Sara Hayes, Director of Public Health for Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board, said: “Hepatitis B and C are viral infections that can easily be passed from person to person through bodily fluids, and can prove fatal if left untreated.
“You may be at risk of one of these viruses if you have ever shared needles with others when injecting drugs, had unprotected sex, had a tattoo or piercing with non-sterilised equipment or received a blood transfusion before 1991 when blood was not screened for the virus.
“Anyone who thinks they have ever been at risk from hepatitis should speak to their GP for a simple blood test. The earlier hepatitis is diagnosed and treated, the better the chances of making a recovery.
“Even if you have not put yourself at risk in the past, you need to be aware of the causes of hepatitis and be sure to take care in the future.”
Public Health Wales is currently implementing a Blood Borne Viral Hepatitis Action Plan, which received £1.37 million of Welsh Government funding in 2010.
The plan aims to reduce transmission of hepatitis in Wales, reduce the number of people who already have hepatitis but have not been diagnosed, and improve treatment and support services for people living with hepatitis.
More information on the action plan is available from the Public Health Wales website at: http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/888/news/15995
More information on Hepatitis B and C is available at http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/888/page/43690 and http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/888/page/43746
ENDS
CONTACT: Public Health Wales Communications Team on 029 2034 8755 (24 hours)
Editor’s notes
Public Health Wales is an NHS organisation providing professionally independent public health advice and services to protect and improve the health and wellbeing of the population of Wales
Public Health Wales
- To provide and manage a range of public health, health protection, healthcare improvement, health advisory, child protection and microbiological laboratory services and services relating to the surveillance, prevention and control of communicable diseases;
- To develop and maintain arrangements for making information about matters related to the protection and improvement of health in Wales available to the public; to undertake and commission research into such matters and to contribute to the provision and development of training in such matters;
- To undertake the systematic collection, analysis and dissemination of information about the health of the people of
- To provide, manage, monitor, evaluate and conduct research into screening of health conditions and screening of health related matters.
- More information on Public Health Wales is available at www.publichealthwales.org
