The Viral Hepatitis and Liver Cancer Prevention and Control ActThe Silent EpidemicHepatitis viruses are highly contagious viruses that infect the liver, causing liver disease, liver cancer, and premature death. Roughly 2 billion people worldwide have been infected with hepatitis B, more than 170 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis C, and in this nation alone, an estimated 5.3 million people are infected with either hepatitis B or hepatitis C. Left untreated, hepatitis can cause liver disease, liver cancer and premature death decades after infection. Tragically, approximately two thirds of those infected are unaware of their status.
It is no surprise, then, that some are calling this a silent crisis. Each year, approximately 15,000 people die from liver cancer or liver diseases related to hepatitis B and hepatitis C. That’s more than 40 Americans dying every day, with no state or Congressional district in our nation exempt from its deadly reach.
Beyond the tragic and preventable loss of human life and its subsequent hit to our country’s productivity, the costs to our country are explicitly economic as well. Without effective prevention and vaccination methods in place, chronic hepatitis B and C are expected to cost our country at least $20 billion in treatments alone over the next 10 years. As a result, over the same time frame, commercial and Medicare costs will more than double. Projecting further out, over the next 20 years, total medical costs for patients with hepatitis C infection are expected to increase more than 2.5 times from $30 billion to more than $85 billion.
What the Legislation DoesI introduced H.R. 3974 in the 111th to put in place a coordinated federal response to fight viral hepatitis. The bill authorizes the prevention, immunization, screening, education, and treatment programs to meet the need in our communities. Through this legislation and with strategic investments in public health and prevention programs, billions of dollars can be saved and the lives of tens of thousands of people in your state can be improved. I am currently working in the 112th Congress to reintroduce the bill. Endorsements:Trust for America’s Health National Viral Hepatitis Round Table Caring Ambassadors Program Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations National Association of State and Territorial AIDS Directors National Hepatitis B Foundation American Association of Liver Doctors Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum Hepatitis C Support Project Harlem United Community Aids Center San Francisco Hep B Free HCV Advocate AIDS Action Baltimore Greater Washington Viral Hepatitis Support Group Hepatitis Education Project Immunization Action Coalition Missouri Hepatitis C alliance Project Inform Treatment Action Group The AIDS Institute American Liver Foundation Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center Bexar Area Harm Reduction Coalition California Hepatitis Alliance Center for Health Improvement Downtown Manhattan HCV Support Group Education for Health Choices H.E.A.L.S. of the South Hepatitis C Association Hep C Connection Hepatitis-HIV/AIDS Awareness Project LASHgroup.org Maryland Hepatitis Coalition New York Harm Reduction Educators New York University Medical Center Hepatitis C Support Group North Carolina Hepatitis community Voice North Shore Health Project O’Connor Hospital HCV and HBV Support Group PKIDs Recovery 2000, Inc. San Francisco Mayor’s Hepatitis C Task Force Status C unknown STOPHep C Sun Coast Hep C Friends Org Upstate New York HCV Awareness Project Women Organized to Respond to Life Threatening Diseases |
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