It has been revealed by public health officials that rural Appalachia is on the brink of an HIV epidemic as the region struggles to cope with injection drug abuse and hepatitis C. Last month, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that the rate of hepatitis C has tripled in Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia between 2006 and 2012, reports Sputnik News.
CDC statistics show that Kentucky has the highest incidence of acute hepatitis C in the nation with 4.1 cases for every 100,000 residences, six times greater than the national average. Inquisitr reports that the hepatitis C outbreak is caused by drug users injecting themselves with dirty needles.
"There's a sense of inevitability about it," quoted Newsplex of University of Kentucky epidemiologist Dr. Jennifer Havens who has been tracking 503 drug users since 2008, she reveals 70 percent of her participants now have hep C. "Some say, 'I'm surprised it took me this long,'" she added.
With regards to treatment, Sputnik news recalls that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Harvoni, a hepatitis C drug that is to be taken daily and can cure the most common form of the virus.
However, the drug doesn't come cheap, each pill costs about $1,000 totalling $82,000 for a standard 12-week program, it's not a viable option for most people in Appalachia, which is one of the poorest regions in the country.
One of the strategies identified by Kentucky's biggest cities, namely Louisville and Lexington, are planning to launch syringe exchange programs over the summer to address the looming threat of HIV. Guidelines for the program have just been distributed by the office of Dr. Stephanie Mayfield Gibson, commission of the state's Department of Public Health.
Newsplex adds that pick up of the programs by rural communities have been slower due to cited logistical complications along with concerns that programs such as these promote drug use rather than prevent it.
"We have to change the way we think, we have to open our minds and think of other options and, yes, that includes needle exchanges," quoted MSN of Sue Yates, who oversees drug court programs in 20 counties that aim to divert addicts from jails and to treatment. "It's better than doing nothing, which is what we're doing now."
On the other side of the coin are those who don't agree with the exchange program. Ben Barlow, per Stutnik News, is a recovering addict and diagnosed hepatitis C patient who believes that a needed exchange program is basically "like giving a gun to someone suicidal."
