Dr. Siddharth Kogilwaimath spoke to media Wednesday afternoon at Access Place. (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Health care

P.A. doctor speaks about hepatitis C ahead of world day

Jul 9, 2020 | 9:00 AM

A Prince Albert physician talked about Hepatitis C on Wednesday.

Dr. Siddharth Kogilwaimath took time to speak about the disease yesterday afternoon at Access Place ahead of World Hepatitis Day on July 28.

Kogilwaimath explained one of the primary objectives of the world day is to encourage people to get themselves tested.

“There’s a lot of implications for untreated hepatitis infections,” he said.

People who use intervenes drugs or reuse tattooing and piercing equipment along with those sharing medical equipment are at a higher risk of contacting the disease. Anyone who had a blood transfusion before 1991 is also encouraged to get tested along with those born between 1945 and 1975.

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Hepatitis C is a virus passed along via blood to blood contact. Without treatment the disease can seriously damage the liver and lead to other issues. In 2017 the Saskatchewan Health Authority reported the province’s hepatitis C rates were twice the national average.

Kogilwaimath said historically there has been a stigma surrounding the virus and there has been work done to try to combat it.

“We do a lot of things to normalize testing, normalize dealing with the results,” he said.

The doctor added work has also been done to educate primary care physicians so they are better equipped.

There have been advancements in treating the disease. Kogilwaimath said the drugs currently used to treat it are directly acting anti-viral therapy which involves taking one to three pills a day for up to 12 weeks.

“Its really very easy to treat hepatitis C in this day and age,” he said.

When it comes to bringing down the rates in Saskatchewan, Kogilwaimath said it will require preventative measures like harm reduction to help prevent people from contracting the virus in the first place.

“It has to be a multi-pronged strategy,” he said.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn