“This is about saving lives”: Public Health Minister tackles hepatitis C epidemic hitting South Asian communities
Minister for Public Health, Anne Milton MP, joined the All-Party Parliamentary Hepatology Group and national charity The Hepatitis C Trust on Tuesday night (12 July) to raise awareness of the urgent need for action to tackle hepatitis C in South Asian communities. They were joined by community leaders, actors, artists, patients and leading health professionals all intent on lending their support to this fatally under-recognised condition.
Research has found that prevalence of hepatitis C in people from South Asia – particularly Pakistan – is five times that of the wider population in some parts of the UK. Not only is prevalence higher, but most have had the virus for longer, often since birth, and are therefore at much greater risk of premature death: over 10% of people who died from hepatitis C in the UK between 1996 and 2009 were born in Pakistan or Bangladesh.
Improving awareness, earlier testing and increasing diagnoses is the only way to reducing the impact of this virus among South Asian populations, and to saving these lives.
Hepatitis C is a blood borne virus that primarily attacks the liver. It can lead to severe and even fatal liver disease and cancer. Although it is curable, less than half of the 250,000 to 466,000 people who have it in the UK have been diagnosed.
Speaking in Parliament, Anne Milton said:
“Inexplicably it’s a constant battle to get hepatitis C into the spotlight. Globally about 170 million people are currently infected. England has a pretty low prevalence in comparison to many other countries, around 0.5% overall, but of course as we all know, studies show that people from originating from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have an increased risk of contracting it and so we have to increase awareness in those communities.
…We can’t get away from the fact that public health is everybody’s business and as I have been doing this job for a year I think the thing that does strike me more than anything is the shocking inequalities in health that exist today in this country. Not only in life expectancy but some communities are far more at-risk than others. We all have a part to play, however small or big. This is about saving lives.”
Charles Gore, Chief Executive of The Hepatitis C Trust, added:
“Awareness is fatally low in South Asian communities. We cannot go on ignoring this issue. If we all come together – Government, community leaders, clinicians and NGOs – and act now, we can prevent our hospitals filling up with people who are dying because they were diagnosed too late.
"It’s so tragic because these deaths are completely preventable. There is treatment that can eradicate the virus; the challenge is to find those affected so they can access it.”
Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Hepatology Group, Virendra Sharma MP, said:
“Raising awareness is absolutely crucial. Anyone who has had a blood transfusion, surgery, dental work, an injection or even a cut at a street barber in a high-prevalence country such as Pakistan should consider a hepatitis C test. Earlier diagnosis allows earlier treatment, and that will save lives.”
