Political Quotes

“the Queens Courier, a distinguished local newspaper in New York, recently concluded in an exclusive study that they did in this edition that hepatitis C has reached near epidemic proportions in New York City and, in fact, in the Nation as a whole. The Queens Courier study actually does a great national service to bring our attention to what is an often and unrecognized epidemic: Nearly 4 million Americans have been affected by hepatitis C. As a result, there are almost 10,000 deaths every year in this country, and it causes over $600 million in medical bills in our country. This is indeed an epidemic, albeit a quiet one. This is particularly poignant to New York City, where there are so many immigrant communities. Now is the time for not only authorities in New York State, but the Center for Disease Control here in Washington, to finally recognize that hepatitis C has reached a crisis proportion. The Queens Courier has done a very important job by calling this to our attention. Now we in Congress have to take up this call and address the problems of hepatitis C.”