Tim Hewage, Sky News Online
High street screening for hepatitis C could help thousands who may unknowingly be at risk from liver disease and cancer, experts have claimed.
Around 70,000 people in England and Wales have been diagnosed with hepatitis C. It is estimated half a million people in the UK could have contracted the disease without even realising it.
A pilot screening scheme involving 19 pharmacies picked up a much higher rate of people with the virus than screenings carried out by GPs.
One in six people tested in the pharmacies came back positive for hep C, which can be transmitted through infected blood, or hep B, which can also be transmitted through bodily fluids.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Hepatitis C Trust are now calling for more screenings nationwide.
Hepatitis C can cause serious liver disease and liver cancer - but many people carry the disease for years with no symptoms.
Celebrities with the virus include actress Pamela Anderson and founder of The Body Shop Anita Roddick, who died in 2007.
Anyone given a blood transfusion before September 1991 or blood products before 1986 could be at risk of infection.
Another major route of infection is when people share needles for injecting drugs.
Charles Gore, chief executive of the Hepatitis C Trust said: "We desperately need new approaches to testing that will find the undiagnosed patients and this pilot study shows pharmacy testing could be just what is needed."
