BS, HealthNEWS aN ProgressIn Fight gainst Hepatitis (NPS)—To educate and prevent hepatitis among fricanmericans, the National Medical ssociation is calling for universal vaccination, increased education, advocacy efforts and ongoing surveillance and research. Hepatitis is a serious and potentially fatal liver disease. “Hepatitis , B and C areserious andoften debilitating diseases that have reached epidemic proportions in the frican-merican community,” said Dr. Lucille C. Norville Perez, president of the National Medical ssociation. “Our goal is to partner with other leading organizations to increase education, prevention and access to treatment to eradicate hepatitis within the frican-merican com- munity and beyond.” ccording to Dr. Joan Buffing- ton, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is estimated that among adolescents, frican-mericans are three to four times more likely than Whites to have a hepatitis B infection. It is estimated that 1.25 million mericans are chronically infected with hepatitis B, which is spread through infected blood or body fluids, sexual contact, IV drug use, contact sports, body piercing and tattooing. Hepatitis infects 180,000 mericans each year. It is spread by fecal-oral route through close person-to-person contact, or by ingesting contaminated food or water. Hepatitis and B are both pre- leading frican-merican doctors, group has issued guidelines to educate and prevent hepatitis. ventable through vaccination. Hepatitis C, the nation’s most common bloodborneinfection, chronically affects an estimated three million mericans. It is predominantly spread through contact with infected blood and can result in liver cancer, cirrhosis or failure. Unlike hepatitis and B, there is no vaccination for hepatitis C. So that more frican-merican youth and adults are aware of their susceptibility to the hepatitis , B, and C viruses, the National Medical ssociation released a consensus papertitled, Promoting Prevention of Viral Hepatitis in the frican-merican Community. More information about the fight against hepatitis is available by visiting www.nmanet.org.
