Southern Destinations: June 22, 2017

14 community resources 2017
raising awareness of
hepatitis in the community
ProstatE Cancer –
A Message for Men
World Hepatitis Day, July 28,
is aimed at raising awareness of
hepatitis, which affects about
500 million people worldwide.
It is estimated over 100,000
Kiwis carry the hepatitis B and
C viruses. However, because of
the absence of symptoms in
many with chronic infections,
they are not diagnosed. An
effective Hepatitis B vaccine
that has been available since
the 1980s and given to 95 per
cent of pre-schoolers means
the incidence of new infections
is relatively low and the burden
of disease is shrinking.
Hepatitis C was discovered
in 1989. At the peak of the
epidemic in New Zealand there
were probably 50,000 people
chronically infected. Screening
blood/blood products for
markers of the virus and
providing clean needles and
syringes has dramatically
reduced the incidence of new
infections amongst blood
recipients and people that
inject drugs – the two main risk
groups.
While there is still no vaccine
for hep C, there are treatment
options that have shown
a greater than 95 per cent
cure rate, are well tolerated,
are orally administered and
completed in 12 weeks.
The focus of this year’s
awareness campaign is to find
people with latent undiagnosed
infections, and to make sure
everyone knows the new
medications have superseded
interferon-based treatments.
So if you or somebody you care
about has hepatitis B or C and
might not be up-to-date on this
information please get in touch.
By Graeme Woodside, CEo,
Prostate Cancer Foundation
As men get older, they often
develop problems with their
prostate gland. This shows
mostly in difficulties they have
with urinating – sometimes
some pain or slow flow,
frequent visits to the toilet,
especially at night, or problems
passing urine when they feel
the need to do so.
While not all of these problems
may actually be caused by
prostate cancer, men should
have these checked out by
their doctor.
There is medication available
for non-cancerous conditions,
and a simple blood test (PSA)
and a physical examination
by the doctor will give a good
indication if the cause of the
problems may be prostate
cancer.
Prostate cancer is the most
common cancer in men and
tends to be more common
as men get older. It is really
important for men, whether
they have any symptoms or
not, to get checked each year
once they reach age 50 or
from age 40 if there is a family
history of this disease.
Early detection means that
the disease can be effectively
treated. However once
prostate cancer becomes
more advanced it can have
devastating consequences and
kills over 600 Kiwi men each
year.
For more information go to
www.prostate.org.nz