Jorge Adán, Secretary of the Association of Hepatitis C Communities of Uruguay (Achcu) and Aracelis Delgado, Director of Health of the Municipality of Canelones, visited La R 1410 AM radio station and the program “Panorama 1410” broadcast by Tele R on Antel TV.
World Hepatitis C Day is commemorated on Friday 28 July and Achcu will carry out activities related to the disease on this day.
Beginning at 12:00 noon, Achcu conducts free and confidential tests at the mouth of the Public Health Department to detect the disease, with immediate results.
Subsequently, at 3:00 p.m., members of the association met with Prison Council Commissioner Juan Miguel Petit to learn about the conditions for providing care to persons deprived of their liberty.
Delgado explained: “Hepatitis C is a virus, and it has a peculiarity that once infected, if detected and cured in time, it is possible to receive 90 days of treatment. Therefore, early detection is the most important. There is a cure for this, and it doesn’t make much sense if it’s not reversed.”
For his part, Adan said, “The country is not paying attention. We are asking for attention because hepatitis C is almost born with HIV. Unfortunately, HIV has no cure, hepatitis C can be cured,” he also insisted. believes, “We are asking people to know that hepatitis C is an epidemic and that if left untreated, it is fatal. It is a deadly disease, but if treated, patients can survive three months (90 days) of treatment And get well, and the cost is very affordable. Today in Uruguay it doesn’t exceed $600″.
Hepatitis C is spread through blood. The biggest prevention is to avoid blood infection. Respondents indicated that Uruguay does not have its own disease statistics.
Adam explains the symptoms the disease produces. “In 80 percent of cases, symptoms do not appear until the advanced stage.” “Symptoms such as persistent headache, extreme fatigue, yellow eyes, dark urine, pain in the right abdomen are varied and may be associated with other diseases,” he describes road.
“We hope tomorrow the Ministry of Public Health will finally announce that it will be included in the health card. This is what we have been asking for for a long time,” Secretary Achcu said.