A cure for hepatitis C has been announced and treatment for the virus is fully funded.
These words that together in a sentence, Bev Bayliss thought she would never be alive to see.
She was wrong.
Bev Bayliss was one of the first people in Tairāwhiti to be diagnosed with hepatitis C. In 1984, while giving birth to her first son, she recieved blood which was contaminated with the hep C virus.
As documented in the Gisborne Herald on 4 Sept 1993, Bev ‘went through hell.’
“Back in those days, there was little information or support available for people with hep C. It was treated just like AIDS. It was so uncommon that I was misdiagnosed several times before my GP went over and above to find out what I had. I owe him my life.”
“Friends turned their backs on me, hep C alienated me from the community. I knew there must have been other people suffering from hep C but the stigma attached kept people in the shadows.”
“Once my health improved and my boys were grown up, I started volunteering and that lead me to where I am today.”
Bev is regional training coordinator at Gisborne St. John, a role which she honestly and openly talks about hep C and the risks involved in the job related to needles.
“It makes me so happy that people who have hep C can now be cured, and also that treatment is free. The medication until recently was interferon, which involved painful injections and side effects and now it’s just 3 tablets a day for 8 weeks, for most people.”
Bev also campaigned for a number of years for the government to fund interferon for those who had contracted hep C through contaminated blood transfusion.
“I know how it feels to have hep C and those feelings of being judged for having the illness.”
“Times have changed now and I recommend to everyone who may have had a blood transfusion before 1992, injected drugs or may suspect something is wrong to get tested.”
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- Over 50,000 Kiwis have hep C. Over 1000 in Tairāwhiti.
- Symptoms can be tiredness or achy joints
- You can get hep C in many ways, included getting a tattoo but the most common way is sharing needles. If you’ve ever injected drugs, you should get tested.
- Talk to your GP or have a free instant hep C test at Gordon’s Pharmacy or Pharmacy 53 on Ormond Road.
- Visit www.GetHepCtested.co.nz
- Get tested, get treated and get on with your life.