Hepatitis Advocacy Update for African Americans

Hepatitis Advocacy Update: Congressional Black Caucus Requests Federal Funding, for African-Americans The HCV Prevalence Rate is Double Compared To All Others in the USA; Congressmen Request Funding To on the Floor; Pres Obama Recognizes hepatitis with a Statement

Reported by Jules Levin

On World Hepatitis Day several Congressional offices and the Congressional Black Caucus expressed support for increased funding for viral hepatitis initiatives by the Federal government. Of particular note, a letter was sent by the Congressional Black Caucus led by Donna Christensen MD, representative from the Virgin Islands, and signed by 20 members of the CBC, was sent to David Obey the Chairman of the Committee on Approrpriations in the House of Representatives, requesting funding support for viral hepatitis (HCV & HBV). Congressman Mike Honda submitted a request to Congress for an increase of $40 million for HCV/HBV programs to include testing/screening, perhaps $4 million might be approved but we don't know if anything will be approved. Congressman Towns, Honda and Cassidy made statements on World Hepatitis Day in support of addressing the problem by the Federal government and the text of their comments are attached. As well, President Obama recognized the problem by issuing a statement from the White House also in support of the problem.

These are important steps forward, particularly the letter by the Congressional Black Caucus which states: "HCV is twice as prevalent among African Americans as among whites......African-Americans and Hispanic patients are less likely to be tested for HCV in the presence of known risk factors, less likely to be referred for subspecialty care and treatment, and less likely to receive antiviral treatment.....currently, the [CDC] does not have adequate resources to provide critical public health functions including education, hepatitis counseling, screening, vaccines or the surveillance that would allow states to better target their resources....Our current Federal investment is woefully inadequate."

A recent report from the Millan Group sponsored by Vertex said "HCV prevalence is over-represented in African-Americans", the relative risk of being HCV positive is 186% for African-Americans, which is about double the risk for all others in the USA.

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