Salamanca launches campaign against hepatitis C starring Carmelo Gomez

In their joint project in the program “HepCityFree”, Salamanca and 19 more cities in Spain start an information campaign against Hepatitis C leading actor Carmelo Gomezone of the main figures in the fight against this disease. The project aims find recent cases raising awareness about the diagnosis of possible cases.

The program brings together 20 Spanish cities that are fighting for elimination of this chronic viral infection for which there is no vaccinebut it is the treatment that cures it. To this end, the project develops information and research activities for people living with hepatitis C and not knowing about it, especially among vulnerable groups such as the homeless and injection drug users.

Despite Spain tops the world ranking of treated and cured people per million population, hepatitis C continues to claim four deaths a week in our country, It is a silent disease that remains asymptomatic for many years..

“Every year in Spain there are 188 deaths due to hepatitis C-related causes and we cannot be satisfied: this is almost 10% of road deaths and, like these, they are preventable and avoidable”declares Coordinator of the Alliance to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis in Spain (AEHVE), Javier Garcia-Samaniego.

On this occasion and on the occasion World Hepatitis Daywhich is celebrated next July 28thThese cities have launched a campaign through their media and social media profiles, featuring actor Carmelo Gomez, who was cured of hepatitis C, and whose goal is precisely to raise awareness of the hidden nature of the disease and to promote both detection and the start of treatment.

He Carmelo Gomez case It was similar to the many other patients who had contracted the virus through blood transfusions before that route was discovered and put an end to in the mid-1990s. Like other patients who may now have the infection and not know it, Carmelo did not learn he had the disease until long after he had been infected. In his case, the diagnosis came by chance when he went to donate blood in the late 1990s and was told he couldn’t because he had liver disease.

full campaign can be seen here.

About Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is an important public health issue because of its incidence, morbidity and mortality, and health care costs. Before the advent of direct-acting antiviral drugs, it was the leading cause of end-stage liver disease and liver cancer in Western countries and the first indication for liver transplantation.

causes of infection The most common of these are unsafe injection practices, improper sterilization of medical equipment, and transfusions of blood and blood products before 1990. Although less common, the hepatitis C virus can be transmitted sexually (especially through certain sexual practices) and can be passed from an infected mother to her child.

Hepatitis C is a silent disease that does not produce symptoms. There is no vaccine against hepatitis C, but there is treatment that cures the disease in almost 100% of cases.

With o Since 2015, 170,000 patients have been treated and cured.Our country leads the world ranking of treated and cured per million population. The Ministry of Health estimated the prevalence of the infection at 0.22% in 2018, and today, according to experts, it will be below 0.1%. Despite this, hepatitis C continues to be in demand in our country. four deaths a week. He late diagnosis infection that occurs in more than a third of casesmakes the damage it does to the liver irreversible. “Every year in Spain there are 188 deaths due to hepatitis C-related causes and we cannot be satisfied: this is almost 10% of road deaths and, like these, they are preventable and avoidable”It is said Javier Garcia-Samaniego.

“Spain has the opportunity to make history and be the first country in the developed world to put an end to a public health problem like hepatitis C. But to win this battle, we need to take very seriously what is called public health policy, that is: ‘We must treat all cases with other actions in terms of measurement, prevention, early diagnosis and attention to risk groups.’explains the AEHVE coordinator and head of the hepatology department at HU La Paz, who insists on the key role of cities in all this.

About AEKhVE

IN February 2017Scientific societies and patient associations committed to the WHO goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health problem by 2030 are creating Alliance to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis in Spain (AEHVE), with the intention of achieving this goal, since Spain already had Strategic Plan to Combat Hepatitis C (PEAGK).

AEHVE is made up of the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (AEEH), the Spanish Society of Digestive Pathology (SEPD), the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFYC), the Spanish Society of General Medicine (SEMERGEN), the Spanish Society of General Medicine (SEMG), the Spanish Society of Penitentiary Health (SESP), the Spanish Society of Virology (SEV), the Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacy (SEFH), Socidrogalcohol (Spanish Scientific Society for the Study of Alcohol, Alcoholism and Other Drug Addiction), CIBERehd (Center for Network Biomedical Research on Liver Diseases), the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (IS Global), the National Federation of Liver Diseases and Transplantation (FNETH), the Catalan Association of Hepatitis Patients (ASSCAT) and the Madrid Platform for People Affected by Hepatitis C (PLAFHC Madrid).