World Hepatitis Day 2015: Strength through Community and Hope in Numbers
Viral hepatitis can be prevented. It’s up to all of us to act. That is why in 2010 the World Health Organization made World Hepatitis Day one of only 4 official disease-specific world health days, to be observed each year on July 28th. Millions of people across the world now take part in World Hepatitis Day, to raise awareness about viral hepatitis, and to call for access to treatment, better prevention programs and government action.
How the Pacific Hepatitis C Network Celebrated World Hepatitis Day in Vancouver
After helping to organize Vancouver’s World Hepatitis Day event and spreading the word about World Hepatitis Day events throughout BC, PHCN joined the Vancouver event. Vancouver’s event included dancing, speeches, community building (i.e. trying to talk to absolutely everyone), and then more dancing.
There were many memorable moments from Vancouver’s World Hepatitis Day event. For example, Andrew Oldham, manager and producer of The Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967, launched the Generation Hep awareness campaign and told his story about living with hepatitis C and how hepatitis C has impacted many in the music business. Carolyn Klassen, President of the Canadian Association of Hepatology Nurses, talked about what it was like to be a hepatology nurse and explained the hepatology nurse’s role in treating people with hepatitis. The Wild Moccasin Dancers got our blood moving! And Evan Adams’s Generation Hep PSA was viewed and can be seen on YouTube.
Furthermore, Daryl Luster, PHCN’s own president, spoke on living with and without hep C.