Hepatitis C – Not just a celebrity disease

Everyone seems to know that Pamela Anderson has Hep C. They even know that Keith Richards, Anthony Kiedis and Marianne Faithful suffer from the disease and Body Shop founder - Anita Roddick also had the disease. But did you know that if you have ever shared your partner’s toothbrush or borrowed your friend’s razor you could be at risk too?

There are estimated to be over half a million people in the UK living with hepatitis B or C without knowing it. The Hepatitis C Trust is calling on health services to introduce testing in pharmacies to ensure the early diagnosis of the disease which could save thousands of lives each year.

You can contract Hepatitis C the following ways:

- Regularly shared razors or toothbrushes with a person who is known to have hepatitis C
- Contact sports, fights and a human bite (where they may have come in contact with another person’s blood)
- Tattoos / piercings/ Acupuncture (in unregistered premises or with possibly unsterile equipment or with needles that were not new)
- Current sniffing cocaine / past sniffing cocaine (sharing pipes, notes or straws with a person who is known to have hepatitis C or may have been at risk)
- Receiving a blood transfusion / blood products / organ transplantation prior to 1991
- Current  IV drug use  /  past IV drug use (including steroids, sharing any injecting equipment)

To find out more about the disease and how you can get tested, watch our video, or log on to: hepctrust.org.uk