Posted: 20-Jul-2005 << BACK
Fury at Hepititis C decision
Norwich Evening News. Reporter Naomi Canton. 20 July 2005
Hepatitis C sufferers are furious that the introduction of a Government-backed action plan to help victims of the disease and prevent more infections has been halted. Norwich Primary Care Trust has revealed it does not plan to implement the Hepatitis C Action Plan for England in the city because it does not have the cash.
The move has left city sufferers such as Anne Walker and Michael Colyer extremely concerned about the pending explosion in Hepatitis C and angry their efforts to roll out the plan have been wasted. The action plan would have involved more publicity about the risks and symptoms of the disease, more screening and easier access to treatment.
But Alastair Roy, chief executive of Norwich Primary Care Trust, wrote in a letter to Norwich South MP Charles Clark in June: "I am sorry to say that I am still unable to give you a firm commitment to the action plan at this time. If the situation changes in the near future I will contact you again."
Mr Colyer, of Colman Road, who spearheaded the campaign to get the Department of Health-backed campaign rolled out, said: "I am appalled by this. We had created a second draft of the action plan and now it's stymied." The 54-year-old haemophiliac was infected with Hepatitis C after receiving contaminated blood products through the NHS in the 1960s or 1970s. He organised a meeting in November with Norwich Primary Care Trust, the other primary care trusts in Norfolk and organisations to get the project off the ground. He said: "The action plan would have meant we would have been able to kick start the process of gathering data on people in Norfolk which no-one has done yet." He said it would also have led to more screenings of possible carriers of the disease. He said he was amazed the virus was 16 years old and still nothing was done when it was suspected there were 5,000 people in Norwich with the illness.
"The message is not getting through. Ninety per cent of those infected have used drugs in the past such as cocaine or drugs injected through needles." He said others at risk were nurses and healthcare workers who had needle stick injuries and people with tattoos, pierced ears and those like him who had had blood transfusions prior to 1991.
"This is a time bomb already going off because of the lack of action. The implications are awful because of the effect it is going to have on the lives of people who fall ill and it's going to be an enormous drain on the NHS. The Government can either pay out now to prevent it or they can pay for treatment."
Co founder of the Norwich C Hepatitis Group, Ms Walker, 50, said: "I can't believe after all the efforts the professionals have put into it that it's not being put into action. It seems as though the liver is always put at the bottom of the list. I can't understand it because in 10 years' time there is going to be a huge demand for livers when people realise they have got Hepatitis C. We are so sick of nothing happening." Ms Walker was infected with Hepatitis C in 1974 when she had a routine NHS blood transfusion.
Alastair Roy, chief executive of Norwich Primary Care Trust, said: "We recognise this as an important element in disease prevention along with a range of other initiatives. "This financial year we are concentrating on avoiding hospital acquired infections and full implementation of the Norfolk wide Hepatitis C policy will be considered with other initiatives for the next financial year."
