CANADA: Health Fair and Barbecue for World Hepatitis Day Awareness

July 27, 2011

CANADA: " Health Fair and Barbecue for World Hepatitis Day Awareness "

Comox Valley Echo (07.26.11)

Courtenay, British Columbia, will observe the World Health Organization’s first

official World Hepatitis Day on July 28 with a health fair and barbeque at Simms

Park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The day’s theme is “Hepatitis affects everyone,

everywhere. Know it. Confront it.”

Event co-hosts AIDS Vancouver Island (AVI) and the Hepatitis C Peer Education

Group will provide free food and interactive exhibits to educate the public

about hepatitis testing and treatment, work to eradicate stigma, and memorialize

those who have died from the infection. The Public Health Agency of Canada is

supporting the event.

Approximately 500 million people are infected with chronic viral hepatitis B and

C. Some 600,000 Canadians are estimated to have hepatitis. AVI Health Promotion

Worker Jeanette Reinhardt said most people are unaware they are infected.

According to the BC Center for Disease Control, British Columbia’s hepatitis B

cases have declined and remained below the national rate for nearly 10 years.

However the province’s hepatitis C rates exceeded the 2009 national average of

36.7 new cases per 100,000 people at 54.9. North Vancouver Island had an even

higher rate of 76.6.

Transmitted by direct blood contact such as using unsterile needles or engaging

in unprotected sex with an infected person, hepatitis C is the most prevalent

chronic blood-borne virus in North America and the leading cause of liver

transplants in both Canada and the United States.

However, “there are many services available to support people with hepatitis,”

said Reinhardt. “Getting tested is the first step in confronting the disease.”

For more information, contact Reinhardt at 250-338-7400.

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