True Champions Hep C: Fighting the Stigma
Hank Johnson, a congressman representing Georgia’s 4th District, talks about squashing the stigma surrounding hepatitis C.
In episode 5 of True Champions Hep C, Hank Johnson, a congressman representing Georgia’s 4th District, explains that hepatitis C does not have to be a death sentence like it used to be. He wants people to forget the negative stigmas associated with the disease and instead get tested on a regular basis.
Duration: 2:37. Last Updated On: July 18, 2018, 8:24 p.m.
- 00:00 [MUSIC]
- 00:11 Hepatitis C is not a death sentence like it used to be,
- 00:16 and it's a treatable disease.
- 00:19 It's a chronic disease, but it can be treated.
- 00:22 And the virus can be removed from the blood, thus curing the individual.
- 00:28 And so, there's nothing to do now other than to get tested.
- 00:34 There is still a stigma associated with Hepatitis C.
- 00:38 It being that if you didn't get it through a blood transfusion,
- 00:43 then you must have been using illicit drugs.
- 00:47 You must have been shooting up dope.
- 00:49 Blood to blood transfer can happen just simply from using someone else's
- 00:55 toothbrush who was infected, or even a, an electric shaver or a manual shaver.
- 01:03 There should be no stigma about getting tested and
- 01:08 being Hepatitis C positive.
- 01:12 There is no stigma.
- 01:14 And so people should not burden themselves with that fear.
- 01:19 There are a lot of people, most people though,
- 01:22 three, three-fourths of the people who have the virus don't even know it.
- 01:27 And so, that lack of knowledge is is the thing that we have to correct.
- 01:34 If a person now has the ability to get cured, then you need to make
- 01:40 sure that you don't have the disease, and if you do, then go ahead and get cured.
- 01:45 I wanna thank all of the advocates in the Hepatitis C community.
- 01:53 There's so many organizations that, dedicated to
- 01:59 eradicating this disease from people's lives.
- 02:04 More attention is being paid to this illness, which costs a lot
- 02:10 of money to treat, and which, if you catch it early, the cost is less.
- 02:16 It's just important that the word gets out that there is no stigma associated with
- 02:23 it, and people can get the treatment that they need to live a good, healthy life.
- 02:29 [MUSIC]
