ADRLF’s Carson Kressley and Dr Carlos Ortiz supported the National Hispanic Hepatitis Awareness Day in New York.

For Hepatitis treatment and prevention, AWARENESS is critical. On May 14, ADRLF joined the Latino Commission on AIDS in celebrating National Hispanic Hepatitis Awareness Day in order to promote the importance of hepatitis awareness and testing for all.

“We want to show solidarity with an organization dedicated to education about the importance of screening and knowledge about the dangers of the Hepatitis virus,” said ADRLF’s Dr. Carlos Ortiz who spoke at the event along with Carson Kressley on the importance of ending viral hepatitis and the need for testing.

Organized by National Hispanic Hepatitis Awareness Day, New York Hep B Coalition and New York Hep C Task Force, the event is part of the Hepatitis Awareness Month celebration and a precursor to the National Hepatitis Testing Day on May 19. It kicked off with a major press conference on the steps of City Hall where public health officials, community leaders and supporters gathered to raise awareness about this global epidemic.

Hepatitis is a silent killer that claims the lives of over 15,000 Americans each year. In New York City, there are about 245,000 living with hepatitis, and around 25 percent develop liver cancer without medical intervention. In spite of the global prevalence of hepatitis, many at-risk populations and the public in general lack adequate information about this deadly disease. The National Hepatitis Awareness Day was especially established to make education and testing widely available, especially to those who have difficult access to medical services and insurance.

“The current way that people are being screened is inadequate,” Dr. Ortiz told the enthusiastic crowd. “Only people with risk factors are being screened, it fails to identify 75% of people with Hepatitis C. People are unable to identify of they have risk factors or don’t know if they have risk factors; hence, they do not get tested.” Dr. Ortiz shared the memory of Al D. Rodriguez, who was unaware of his chronic hepatitis, and succumbed to the disease only six weeks after he was diagnosed of liver cancer.

“If we were screening and treating before it progresses, a lot of money and lives can be saved,” explained Dr Ortiz. “The cost of screening and vaccinations offsets the cost of treating someone who is end stage.”

For this National Hepatitis Awareness Month, let’s all be bearers of the urgent call:
SCREEN. VACCINATE. DON’T HESITATE!