Received this week on the HCV  Forum:

THE CDC WAS SUPPOSE TO SEND A LETTER TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE & IT NEVER HAPPENED. IT SUPPSEDLY WASS DUE TO THE LACK OF FUNDS FOR POSTAGE. SEVERAL HEP C GRROUPS SENT STAMP & WERE TOLD TO STOP. TO DATE THAT LETTER HAS STILL NOT BEEN SENT. WHY ?

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The “Stamp Out Ignorance” effort was an Hepatitis C Outreach Project awareness effort.

It was not the CDC but Surgeon General Satcher who tried (along with HCOP) to get that letter out. It is a long story, the letters should have been in many laguages and an extensive outreach effort begun  Hepatitis C Outreach Project was supposed to have a press conference with Dr. Satcher to get out the public awareness. Didn’t happen. 

The Surgeon General’s office  received THOUSANDS, literally, of stamps.

Still, nothing happened, except that D. Thompson of the Surgeon General’s office called me personally and asked me to stop the campaign because the bags of mail were piled high and they could hardly navigate around them. In exchange, the press conference was offered.

I take a positive view that so many were willing to send in just one stamp. Maybe we need to revive this effort?

This week Surgeon Generals Carmona, Koop, and Satcher testified to Congress on the political interference that has resulted in this (and other) public health crisis and the lack of sound scientific information reaching the American people. Integrity. There is no substitute for it and I commend and thank hese doctors for their courage.

Evidently, the Bush Administration is said to be  the worst. Frankly, there is enough blame to go around because our presidents allowed an epidemic to take hold and were “asleep at the wheel.”

Write to Senator Ted Kennedy and tell him about this. In fact, let everyone you know about this, media, public servants, local health department people.  They have to know the truth before I fear efforts to rewrite history and CYA already have begun. PR people rewriting history as we speak. Tghe pleas and the STAMP OUT IGNORANCE EFFORT may even still exist on a GOGGLE somewhere.

If so, save them as it matters to have evidence that the HCV community came together en masse at least once in a bona fide grassroots effort (as opposed to the miriad astroturf efforts) Hepatitis C Outreach Project has been trying for 15 years. And when I say we, I mean WE, the hepC community.

I am still working on this and I hope these brave doctors will finally be heard. We are working with media right now to tell the real, honest story. Theses doctors may prove to be what will break open the log jam.

Finally, the CDC has done NOTHING of significance, in my opinion, except waste time and the few resources available. When you see websites towing the CDC party line, evaluate that against this new information from former Surgeons General.  They are giving you critical information.

I promise I will not give up. Don’t you give up, either. We have to stick together or nothing will come of this effort either. Be fearless, the truth will come out and we will get the message out so this epidemic is not swept under the rug any more.

 Teresa Hanbey

 

So, as we said in our invited presentation to the Consensus Management Conference on Hepatitis C, let’s connect the dots: 

Stamp Out Ignorance, Dr. Satcher, the American Public Health Association, and Hepatitis C Outreach:  http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Hepatitis/messages/36348.html

Doctors don’t test for Hepatitis C:  http://www.voy.com/17059/2/97.html

 Body decor raises risk: http://www.voy.com/17059/3/37.html

                                  http://www.voy.com/17059/4/223.html 

                                  http://whyfiles.org/206tattoo/4.html

Statement of Dr. Koop: http://www.voy.com/17059/5/180.html

The risk factors:    http://www.voy.com/17059/5/118.html

President Clinton’s last minute Executive Order:  http://www.voy.com/17059/5/17.html

 WebMD and Hepatitis C Outreach on body art: http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?referrerid=232695&t=59158

Our kids:

 mother to child transmission: http://www.voy.com/17059/1/32.html

Your baby wants  body art: http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/guide/your-baby-wants-body-art 

Childhood obesity and the liver: http://www.ijppediatricsindia.org/article.asp?issn=0019-5456;year=2007;volume=74;issue=4;spage=401;epage=407;aulast=Mathur

 

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