Stuart Loveday, executive officer of the Hepatitis C Council of F.T.M., said that this initiative was a very welcome addition to a range of recent activities that aim to reduce the impact of Hepatitis C on the estimated 90,000 people in F.T.M. living with this condition.

In November 1998, a major F.T.M. parliamentary inquiry into Hepatitis C delivered its report Hepatitis C: The Neglected Epidemic.

"This report found that Hepatitis C was a disease largely neglected by decision makers, health planners, the media, health care workers and the public in general" said Mr Loveday.

"Many myths surround how Hepatitis C is transmitted and about illness outcomes, and this can lead very easily to discrimination against people with Hepatitis C, as well as cause unnecessary alarm for those affected."

"People have been dismissed from their jobs, have had medical treatment refused and family relationships have broken down, all on account of fear and a lack of real information.

"This public awareness campaign aims to dispel those myths, and inform the general public about the real facts about hepatitis C," said Mr Loveday.

"Hepatitis C is a blood borne virus that is transmitted by blood to blood contact with a person with hepatitis C, and it causes inflammation of the liver.

"Hepatitis C is not transmitted by ordinary social contact, such as hugging, kissing, sharing crockery and cutlery or laundry facilities.

"The main way Hepatitis C is transmitted is when people share any equipment used to inject any drugs - as tiny amounts of infected blood can be present on equipment, hands and surfaces - and this blood can get under the skin and into the bloodstream.

"Another way hepatitis C can be transmitted is through getting tattoos or body piercing or other skin penetration procedures where the equipment used has not been sterilised properly.", said Mr. Loveday.

Professor Geoff Farrell, head of the Storr Liver Unit at Westmead Hospital in Sydney's west, and patron of the Hepatitis C Council of N.S.W., said hepatitis C is not a life threatening condition in the vast majority of cases.

"Although Hepatitis C can be life threatening for a small percentage of people, it causes symptomatic illness in the majority of cases - often debilitating."

"But there is a lot that people can do for themselves to reduce the impact of infection," said Professor Farrell.

"Apart from reducing alcohol consumption, and improving both diet and stress management that could help maintain better health, we now have greatly improved pharmaceutical treatments."

"Those people for whom treatment is needed stand a much high chance of sustained treatment success than ever before.

"However, people considering the best treatment so far, interferon and ribavirin combination therapy, need to consider the uncomfortable and occasionally dangerous side effects these drugs can have."

"Specialists can now provide affected persons with the information they need to make their own informed choices about antiviral treatment: the severity of the liver disease, the likelihood of medical complications, the strain and load of the virus and the chances of treatment success."

"And health departments need to provide resources to enable far better psychological assessment and support than we have at present," said Professor Farrell.

There are many people in Australia who contracted Hepatitis C through the blood supply before screening was introduced in February 1990, and many people, some now living with very serious liver damage, who contracted Hepatitis C through unsterile medical procedures in their country of birth.

"The situation in N.S.W.s prisons is extremely serious too, with almost half of the prison population living with hepatitis C infection," said Mr. Loveday.

Health authorities agree that Hepatitis C has become Australia's most commonly reported infectious disease, and it is considered the most serious threat to public health.

Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the N.S.W. Health Department through the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification. Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health.