Hepatitis C tests save lives

Many Canadians are diagnosed with liver cancer each year, and 25 per cent of all liver cancers are related to longtime infections with the hepatitis C virus.

Baby boomers are five times more likely to be infected with hepatitis C than the average Canadian. Yet some 80 per cent of all infected individuals remain without symptoms for decades while hepatitis C quietly destroys the liver. This can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer or failure, ultimately requiring a liver transplant.

Left untreated, people with hepatitis C might transmit it to loved ones. Further, the disease can be a financial burden. One Canadian study noted that, on average, the cost per patient was more than $2,000 a year above insurance coverage, plus another $1,300 in out-of-pocket costs for caregivers.

Moreover, expenses for Canadian health care may reach $240 million annually by the year 2020 if trends continue and screening protocols do not expand.

But thanks to new therapies, hepatitis C is curable. If caught early, the likelihood of successful treatment is increased (up to 75 per cent of people can be cured) and can often reverse liver damage.

Why aren’t more baby boomers getting tests? Hepatitis C is typically a stigmatized disease. Although the virus can be acquired in several ways, some people only associate it with high-risk populations such as intravenous drug users.

Primary health-care providers do not routinely screen for the virus, so patients have to justify why they’d like to be tested. Baby boomers may either not remember, be unaware of or are too embarrassed to discuss past risky behaviour.

Here’s a challenge to baby boomers: make an appointment to get tested by World Hepatitis Day, July 28. Michael Houghton, University of Alberta