STATE IGNORING STARTLING GROWTH OF HEPATITIS C

There is a silent epidemic threatening Floridians and, so far, the
state has done little to stop it.

Hepatitis C, a contagious, life-threatening condition, is becoming the
number-one health problem in not only the U.S., but Florida and
Charlotte County according to Dr. Mark Asperilla. With more than 4
million cases in the U.S. and 270,000 in Florida, the disease is
spreading so fast the medical community cannot keep up with it.

There were 203 reported cases in Charlotte County in 2005 and 348 in
Sarasota County while only one was reported in DeSoto County. Those
numbers have steadily risen since statewide tracking began.

Asperilla and other doctors fear if something is not done about what
is suddenly the number-one disease -- eclipsing HIV-AIDS in new cases
reported each month -- that hundreds of people will go untreated and
the disease could reach epidemic proportions.

Why has Hepatitis C grabbed the medical spotlight?

First, it is indeed a truly silent disease. People can go as long as
10 years without showing symptoms.

Also, the disease is costly to treat -- so costly that some insurance
companies have dropped clients stricken with the ailment. Treatment
can be as much as $30,000 a year for the expensive drugs needed. Kathy
McDowell, of Port Charlotte, reported her insurance company dropped
her after just a few treatments.

James Coburn, president of the Charlotte County Hepatitis C Support
Group, traces the spread of the disease to Baby Boomers who shared
needles or practiced sex in the wide-open '60s and '70s, during the
Vietnam War. Many of those people carried the disease for years,
spreading it to others without even knowing they were infected.

Another issue is the rapid spread of the disease among immigrants --
some of whom have little or no money and don't read or speak good English.

Asperilla said the Legislature dedicated $2.5 million in 1999 to
tracking Hepatitis C patients and increased that funding to $3.5
million recently. The money, however, is not used to help cure people
- -- only for locating them and keeping records of where the outbreaks
occur.

He says too many mid-level working people have Hepatitis C and do not
have insurance to help them get well. In Charlotte County, for
example, 25 percent of the workforce does not have health insurance --
and while Medicaid often helps the poor, these people have nowhere to
turn.

Asperilla believes lawmakers should use more of this year's projected
budget surplus to treat people stricken with this disease that
eventually destroys a person's liver. He says the treatment upfront is
much less expensive than $500,000 liver transplants or treatment down
the road.

One issue, he believes, is prejudice. The idea that a person
contracted the disease through sex or drugs is a turn-off for
politicians who might help. However, even people who don't use drugs
or are promiscuous can still be infected from someone who has no idea
they are a carrier.

We agree that more should be done to attack this disease. There are a
number of areas that need an infusion of cash in Florida -- mental
health care, education and roads are three big ones -- but if early
treatment can slow down or stop the spread of Hepatitis C, legislators
should commit to that.