Political Quotes

“I rise today in recognition of National Hepatitis Awareness Month to raise awareness of this public health threat and encourage greater prevention, diagnosis and treatment efforts. Viral hepatitis is a highly infectious disease that directly attacks the liver and, if left untreated, can lead to life-threatening cirrhosis of the liver, liver failure and liver cancer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention--CDC--estimate that roughly 5 to 6 million Americans are infected with viral hepatitis. Yet these chronic infections are silent killers, as those who are infected experience no obvious symptoms until advanced liver damage has occurred after years without treatment. Consequently, up to 50 percent of Americans infected with hepatitis B and 75 percent of Americans infected with hepatitis C are unaware of their disease. Without appropriate screening and management of the disease, viral hepatitis carriers can pass on the infection to others before suffering a premature death from liver cancer or liver disease. Similar to the human immunodeficiency virus--HIV--hepatitis B and C are spread through infected blood and needles. Despite awareness campaign efforts from advocacy groups and the CDC, there continues to be nearly 50,000 new infections each year in the United States, resulting in 15,000 deaths from chronic viral hepatitis-related diseases.”