The Timmins and District Hospital established a ‘liver health team’ this past summer and it’s working to eliminate the Hepatitis C virus by 2030.
It’s doing that by carrying out testing and treating people who are at risk of having and spreading the virus.
Hepatitis C is transmitted through contact with infected body fluids like blood, saliva, vaginal fluids and semen.
“Right now we’ve been seeing that people who inject drugs, share injection supplies,” said Patrick Nowak, the hospital’s manager of outpatient mental health and addiction services.
“They’re not getting new supplies tend to be a lot of transmission within that group of people.”
Nowak told CTV News that the team – which consists of an outreach worker, a registered nurse and clerical support – was chosen after consulting with people with lived experience adding Hepatitis C still carries stigma and it is something the team is working to address.
Nowak also said that the team is meeting people where they are at and have adopted a ‘no wrong door’ policy which means people can access care where they happen to need it: at the hospital, in a shelter or if they are unhoused.
It’s estimated that one-third of Ontarians living with Hepatitis C are unaware that they have the virus that attacks the liver if left untreated.
Nowak said the medication now used to treat the virus has a 95 per cent success rate.
“It’s just, a prescription for oral medication that they take daily for, you know, eight to 12 weeks, depending on the medication and then the follow up bloodwork to confirm if it worked in, for the most part, and very minimal side effects,” he said.
Team officials said more than 200 tests have been conducted and five people have completed treatment.
