Today, July 25, 2014, is National African-American Hepatitis C Action Day. National African-American Hepatitis C Action Day is organized by the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS in efforts to bring awareness about the a deadly liver disease that affects members of the African-American community.
The National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, the Coalition on Positive Health Empowerment (COPE) and the Harm Reduction Coalition are partnering with local health organizations, government agencies and elected officials to draw more attention to this growing epidemic.
Currently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 22 percent of the nearly 3.2 million people living with chronic hep C are African American. People most at risk include baby boomers (those born between 1945 and 1965), anyone who received a blood transfusion before 1992 (when widespread testing for the disease in the blood bank supply first began) and people who inject drugs.
For more information about National African-American Hepatitis C Action Day testing events and resources, visit www.nblca.org.
