One Step Closer to Eliminiating a Chronic Disease

Hep C Action Aotearoa welcomes the announcement from Pharmac to fund a medicine that will treat hepatitis C. This is great news for New Zealanders who have for years struggled to access funding for their treatment.

There are over 50,000 New Zealanders with hep C, and over 50% of those have no idea that they are infected. People in the baby boomer age group are more at risk because of the less safe procedures around blood products in the past, however Hep C Action Aotearoa recommends everyone gets tested once regardless of risk. Hep C is a blood borne virus that has quite a lot of symptoms, but they appear slowly and can often be put down to other things like “getting old” -

here are a few:

• Nausea, abdominal pains, weight loss
• Fatigue, brain fog, cognitive difficulties
• Skin irritations, rashes, itching
• Joint pains, headaches

If you experience these symptoms or think you might be at risk talk to your GP about a simple antibody test and for more information on the elimination campaign see Hep C Action’s website www.hepc-action.nz.

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