EXCLUSIVE: Conservative Queensland
Senator Ian Macdonald and his nephew are on a mission to tackle the
stigma around hepatitis C and help improve access to life-saving
treatments.
Senator Macdonald’s nephew Ian Pengelly, 44, was born with a form
of haemophilia and contracted the potentially-deadly hepatitis C virus
as a young teenager from the unscreened blood-clotting factor he was
given as a part of his treatment during the 1980s.
This week, with
the support of his uncle, Mr Pengelly is speaking publicly about his
battle with the disease for the first time, and will detail his journey
in a new book to be launched by Hepatitis Australia in Parliament House
on Tuesday.
Around 230,000 Australians are believed to be living
with chronic hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus which affects the liver
and kills around 600 people each year.
Read more... Labels: australia, Awareness, hemophilia, Stigma