HIDDEN EPIDEMIC
ing,” she said. “The dentist would put on two pairs of gloves and when I broke my leg I was the last person to have an operation in theatre that day.
“It is blood-borne and very easily spread.
“I believe I got it through intravenous drug-taking but I had my first child in 1989 by caesarean and could just have easily got it at that time.
“There is definitely a stigma around it.
“When I got the all-clear, I came out in floods of tears.
“I wanted to put it on Facebook but my daughter didn’t want me to.
“People put it in the same bracket as Aids.
“Her reaction shows that people have feelings of embarrassment and shame.”
Tracey is appealing for anyone who is slightly at risk to get tested.
She said: “Anyone can get it. If you have ever taken cocaine and any blood gets on the note you can get it from that.
“I have spoken to healthcare professionals and they say people who take steroids do not consider themselves as drug-takers as they are doing it to get a better body. You also hear about people having botox par- ties. I would say to people to get tested and get cured.
“It can be done confidentially. If you get a positive result you can get the tablets straight away.
“You don’t want to risk transferring it to your family.
“I used to be embarrassed about having taken drugs but you don’t have to feel shame.” Probably contracted hepatitis from medical treatment abroad. One of the most common ways that people contract the virus is by medical treatment abroad. Certain countries are more at risk than others and one of the high-risk ones is Pakistan.
This is where Cardiff-born imam Mufti Tariq caught Hep C, as a boy.
When you visit his Riverside home in the city, you are greeted with a warm smile and delicious biscuits. He is happy to talk about his experience because he is desperate to raise awareness within his community. “I was diagnosed in 2014,” he said. “Where did I get it from? At the age of 13 I went to Pakistan, I am told I got it from there. I had medical treat- ment there and they seemed to treat everything by injecting you. But I also went to the barbers and the dentist. It could have been at any time there in 1988 and 2011.
“I was feeling tired and weak so I asked the doctors for a few tests and they saw that some of my enzymes were low. They asked me if I did drugs or alcohol and I said no. That is when they tested me for it.”
According to Tariq, there is a lot of misinformation in Pakistan about the virus. He said: “When they told me, I IN Wales there is an aim to eradicate the virus within 12 years.
Clinical nurse specialist in blood-borne virus in the UHW Delyth Tomkinson is part of the team tackling the virus in Wales. She said: “We do outreach work within Cardiff and Vale.
“It is important because we are trying to raise awareness, because a lot of the public at large aren’t aware of Hep C.
“We have 12,000 to 14,000 people in Wales who are walking around and are not aware they have it. It is a silent epidemic. Sometimes there are very few symptoms and we want people to know the risk factors. It only takes a drop to infect others.”
Testing is simple and free. Anyone who thinks they may have been at risk in the past, or currently, can visit one of several NHS clinics in the Cardiff & Vale Health Board area.
Call 029 2184 8159 for more information or visit www. cardiffandvaleuhb.wales.nhs.uk/ bbv-clinics. knew a bit about it because where I am from in Pakistan it is a death sentence. In Pakistan if someone gets this they will make them stay in bed, which is the wrong thing to do.
“I was low risk at the time so didn’t have the most modern treatment, which is very expensive. I had the old treatment. I wanted whatever was available so they gave me the injections. I felt like I had lost my legs after those injections – it is like chemotherapy.
“I finished that in 2015 and by January 2016 I was nauseous again and they said I still had it.
“The second time I had the tablets and was cured within 12 weeks. It was like a weight had been lifted.”
Now he is working to get doctors to attend Welsh mosques and explain about the virus to end the misconceptions around it.
He said: “There is definitely embarrassment associated with it – people are afraid.
“I have spoken to people who would rather not know about it. There is a lack of understanding and people don’t know how it is transmitted.
“There are two main issues: people think there is no cure and they are scared of the medication.
“The are 12-13 mosques in Cardiff and on Friday the majority of people attend and some will have as many as 1,000 people.
“We are arranging for doctors to come in and talk to people because it is so important.”