Nearly half (49.6 percent) of patients who have viral hepatitis feel they have suffered some kind of discrimination — including by people in healthcare system, according to a survey presented at The International Liver Congress.
Surveyed patients reported that 70 percent of health professionals treated hepatitis patients with respect, but 24.6 percent of the health professionals maintained a certain distance from the patient and 6.9 percent denied care to hepatitis sufferers.
The discrimination these patients feel spreads far beyond their experience in the healthcare industry. Some relatives avoid physical contact with family members who reveal they have hepatitis, and still other patients (23.8 percent) say friends stop inviting them to social events after they reveal they have hepatitis.
The survey includes responses from 1,217 people who have hepatitis B or C in Europe and America.
"The stigma and discrimination faced by people living with hepatitis is all too often based on misunderstandings about the virus and its transmission," said Professor Markus Peck, Secretary General, European Association for the Study of the Liver. "Not only is this damaging to people diagnosed with the disease, but it may also discourage others from getting tested and accessing treatment and support. There is a pressing need to educate the general public about hepatitis to erode this stigma and break down barriers to timely testing, treatment and care for those who need it."