B.C. spends $1.5 million on AIDS-style research to battle hepatitis

VANCOUVER – The B.C. government is hoping to use AIDS-style research to tackle hepatitis.

Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid says the government is investing $1.5 million in a program that will harness the expertise of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS to find new ways to fight epidemics of hepatitis B and C.

Centre director Dr. Julio Montaner (WHO’-lee-oh mon-TAN’-er) says his facility can use the procedures it has developed under a program called STOP HIV/AIDS and apply that to hepatitis.

The work will focus on determining who’s vulnerable to the disease, getting more people tested, finding the best ways to prevent new infections and assessing the effectiveness of new treatments.

Hepatitis B and C infect the liver and can lead to permanent liver damage, including liver cancer and liver failure, but they often present no symptoms until someone’s liver is severely damaged.

The government is also spending $400,000 on a public awareness campaign about the disease that will target members of B.C.’s Asian and South Asian population, who may not have been properly vaccinated against the disease.