To The Editor:
Have you seen the yellow Cs in New York City over the past week and wondered what they are all about?
Find Hep C is meant to raise awareness for hepatitis C – a silent killer that affects more New Yorkers than residents of any other city in the country. Four million Americans have hepatitis C and 75 percent of them don’t know it. Did you know that, African Americans are twice as likely to have hepatitis C as other groups? In fact, 1 in 7 African American men between the ages of 51 and 60 has hepatitis C.
With that said, although there are common misperceptions and stigma, Hepatitis C can affect anyone. In fact, two out of three people with this disease were born between 1946 and 1964 – the baby boomer generation.
Nearly 150,000 New Yorkers are infected with hepatitis C, and hepatitis C is the leading cause of liver cancer and the need for a liver transplant in this country.
The good news is that unlike other infectious diseases, hepatitis C can be cured. Hepatitis C often shows no symptoms. The only way to be sure you don’t have it is to be tested.
People are also at increased risk for hepatitis C if they:
~Had a blood transfusion before 1992.
~Have tattoos or body piercings.
~Used drugs – even just once.
~Work in a healthcare setting.
People can visit www.FindHepC.com to learn more about hepatitis C and find locations around the city to get tested. To find your local hepatitis C statistics, including prevalence rates broken down by age, gender and race/ethnicity, visit www.maphepc.com.
Find Hep C is made possible by Vertex, who is committed to raising awareness for hepatitis C.
Locations
* Port Authority.
Staten Island Ferry
Terminal.
* Sylvia’s Restaurant – Lenox Ave in Harlem.
* Grand Central Station
* Penn Station.
* Cadman Plaza West.
* Union Square.
* 125th & Lexington.
* Central Park/Columbus Circle.
* Times Square.
* Coney Island.
* 86th St. and Lexington Ave.
* Rucker Park (Harlem).
* West Side Highway path.
* George Washington Bridge Transportation Hub (178th St. and Fort Washington Ave).
* Yankee Stadium.
* The Department of Public Health (Queens).
* Queens Blvd (Sunyside)
* Roosevelt Avenue (Jackson Heights).
* Atlantic Terminal (Brooklyn).
* Bed Stuy/Fulton Street (Brooklyn)
* Castle Hill (Bronx).
visit www.maphepc.com.
Vertex