Matthew launches bug fight (From Stourbridge News)

Matthew launches bug fight

3:08pm Monday 22nd January 2007 in Local

A BLACK Country Hepatitis C sufferer is leading a national campaign being run by the Government to raise awareness of the virus.

The Face It awareness campaign was unveiled by Matthew Gilbert from Stafford Street, Walsall, at Merry Hill on Friday January 19.

Matthew contracted Hepatitis C after using drugs eight years ago - he wasn't aware he had the virus until he went to rehab for his drug addiction and had routine blood tests.

He said: "Hepatitis C is a disease that is not just about drugs, it can be spread in a number of ways and can affect people from all walks of life.

"I want to help raise awareness across the Black Country and make people look at their past and face up to some of the risks they might have taken to understand their future."

The exhibition has giant photographs of hepatitis C sufferers including Matthew and the photographer Michele Martinoli, who also suffers from the virus.

Portraits shown are faces of people who have hepatitis C across the country.

Hepatitis C is a blood-bone virus which can lead to liver disease,it affects more than 200,000 people across the UK.

Many people who have the virus have no idea they are sufferers as there are no symptoms of the virus.

Dr Adrian Hamlyn, medical gastroenterology consultant at Russells Hall Hospital said: "We are delighted this awareness event has come to the Black Country.

"The majority of people with hepatitis C are aware they have it, and raising awareness through events such as this will help people understand the transmission routes that exist."

Hepatitis C is carried in the blood and can be contacted through numerous ways such as injecting drugs, blood transfusion before 1991 or unprotected sex.

For further information contact the Hepatitis C information line 0800 451 451 or www.hepc.nhs.uk.