HEALS of the South seeks to educate patients about hepatitis

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Hepatitis Education Awareness and Liver Support of the South is advocating for awareness about hepatitis and the importance of Medicare Part D as part of World Hepatitis Day, the organization said Thursday.

HEALS of the South said proper treatment and access to medicines is critical to patients with liver disease and also encouraged people to get vaccinated for hepatitis A and B and tested for hepatitis C, symptoms of which often don’t occur until the late stage of the disease. According to the World Health Organization, which is sponsoring its first World Hepatitis Day, 520 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis B and C.

“While members of the House and Senate are fighting over a solution for the debt ceiling, we are educating many in the United States about hepatitis,” HEALS of the South executive director and Medicare Rx Access Network of Florida member Pam Langford said. “This week, we are in Washington, D.C., for World Hepatitis Day to raise awareness of this disease and promote the preservation of Medicare Part D, as it is critical to so many hepatitis patients.”