HOUSTON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. health officials need to initiate an AIDS-type public awareness campaign to dispel the stigma of hepatitis B and hepatitis C, a report said.
The report by the Institute of Medicine said chronic hepatitis B and C cause thousands of cases of liver cancer, liver disease and death each year -- taking the heaviest toll among Asians, Pacific Islanders and African-Americans in the United States. These infections account for nearly half of the liver transplants performed annually.
Committee chairman R. Palmer Beasley, a professor of epidemiology and disease control at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, says resources and efforts to contain the viruses that cause hepatitis B and C lag behind those directed at other infectious diseases of similar impact to public health.
"Although hepatitis B and C are preventable, the rates of infection have not declined over the past several years, underscoring the conclusion that we have allowed gaps in screening, prevention and treatment to go unchecked," Beasley says in a statement.
"This report outlines the additional resources and actions needed to reduce the unacceptably high burden of liver disease and cancer associated with these viruses."
The Institute of Medicine provides independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector and the public.
