Posted: 31-May-2007 << BACK
Halifax Courier - 30 May 2007 - By Sarah Kelly
Health experts are warning of a "hidden health timebomb" that could explode in Calderdale. Nearly 1,000 people in the area are already infected by hepatitis C and many more may be unaware they are carrying the disease. If untreated, its infection can lead to potentially fatal liver disease and liver cancer.
Viral hepatitis nurse Siobhan Fahey said the condition is not talked about because it is stigmatised, and Calderdale is a small area. "If you have hepatitis C you can feel dirty and infectious. Some people won't tell their friends and family.
"It's very similar to the way people used to think about HIV.
"I had a young girl in my surgery the other day who had only told one or two people she had hepatitis.
"Her fear was that her friends and family would jump out of their skin if they knew."
The Peacock Project a support group for hepatitis sufferers in Calderdale and Kirklees is looking to expand its service and raise more awareness of the condition.
It currently meets once a fortnight and has more than 100 people on its mailing list. The project has now employed its first professional worker and wants to hold more regular meetings.
Peacock project secretary Stephen Barker was one of the first to be diagnosed with hepatitis C when a test for the condition was developed in the early 1990s.The 53-year-old from Colden, Hebden Bridge, said: "They told me I had got a disease that was going to kill me." Stephen underwent chemotherapy to treat his condition but he says more work is needed to get over the stigma of being a hepatitis sufferer.
Siobhan said most people did not know the facts and often associated the condition with drug use, thinking it could be caught through touch. But she stressed the disease can only be transmitted through blood-to-blood contact and could affect anybody. She said people can live for years without showing any symptoms.
"A ticking timebomb is a good way to describe it," she said.
"One day we will all know someone with hepatitis C."
For more information about joining or supporting the Peacock Project, call its support and development worker Amanda Kent on 01422 348777.
