Today, at the Fifth Annual Hepatitis C Summit for Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health will announce the creation of a groundbreaking new position, the: Hepatitis C Coordinator. This marks the first time such an appointment has been made in the county, highlighting the severity of the hepatitis C (HCV) epidemic, which affects about 180,000 people in the county.
“Hepatitis C is a major global health issue – a ‘viral time bomb.’ It is clearly an important public health problem in Los Angeles CountyQuote,” according to Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, MD, MPH, Director, Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. “Our mission is to have a concerted effort to address this health issue countywide. With the additional resource of a coordinator, we will be able to expand and enhance our current activities. Collaborations with internal and external partners will be key to our success in raising awareness, providing treatment services and delivering technical assistance to other partners working against Hepatitis C.
There are now more people in Los Angeles infected with Hepatitis C than with HIV. Hepatitis C is a major cause of preventable death in the county with syringe-sharing as the primary method of transmission. Sexual transmission among men who have sex with men is also increasing the Hepatitis C epidemic.
“The new Coordinator position is essential to addressing the needs of those with hHepatitis C and stopping the spread of the blood-borne virus. Despite the known and unknown number tens of thousands of Angelenos infected with Hepatitis C, the health crisis is not getting the attention it demands. The new county position will help change that,” according to Brian Risley, Co-Chair, Hepatitis C Task Force for Los Angeles County.
The Fifth Annual Hepatitis C Summit forin Los Angeles County, collaboration between two large consortiums representing both Southern and Northern California, aims to raise the visibility of the virus and its rapid – —and preventable— - spread. There are now more people in Los Angeles with HCV than with HIV, and HCV is a leading cause of preventable death in the county. Syringe-sharing is the primary method of HCV transmission and is entirely preventable. Sexual transmission among men who have sex with men is increasing.
For more information on the Hepatitis C Task Force or Hepatitis CCV, please visit http://www.hepctaskforcela.org/
The one-day community education event is co-sponsored by the Hepatitis C Task Force for Los Angeles County and the California Hepatitis Alliance (CalHEP). It , and is supported by AIDS Project Los Angeles, Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team, Beverly Hills Medical Plaza Pharmacy, Common Ground, Cri-Help, Inc., Drug Policy Alliance, Homeless Health Care Los Angeles, JWCH Institute, Inc., Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, UCLA/Pacific AIDS Education and Training Center, Pacific Southwest Addiction Technology Transfer Center/UCLA ISAP.