About: thanbey
- Full Name
- Teresa Hanbey
- Website
- http://www.hcop.org
- Details
- I became aware of hepatitis C and saw the "handwriting on the wall" in 1992.
My husband of a month or so told me he had a letter from the blood donation center.
I had been working in healthcare and had become aware of the problems in the blood supply that later became the "tainted blood scandal" in Canada leading to the demise of the Canadian Red Cross.
We began an odyssey to understand where he was infected and how. The only identifiable risk factor at the time (for him) was his service as a Naval Corpsman.
Believing that a liver transplant would be the likeliest end result, we began the long and winding road through the VA service connected disability process. We did this only to cover our bases as we were then both employed well and wanted a back-up on catastrophic health care, should it be necessary.
So, that is how it began. Since 1992, we have pioneered a project by project way of disseminating information, holding conferences, making presentations, and blazing the trail for reporters, researchers, patient advocates, and others to begin to consider this epidemic as a true threat to public health.
In spite of all the effort, we are not there yet. In spite of millions of marketing by pharmaceutical companies, we are not there yet. In spite of a Newsweek cover, lobbying efforts (gain, pharmaceutical companies) we are not there yet. And, the many astro-turf organizations who depend on that money, we are not there yet.
We stand alone as a beacon for routine testing and openmindedness among the public and policymakers.
I just keep hoping that we are not the canaries in the mine.
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