Hepatitis C-related discrimination in healthcare

Treloar, Carla J; Hopwood, Max N; Loveday, Stuart K

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2002.tb04753.x

Topics

Hollywood celebrity Pamela Anderson's announcement that she has hepatitis C was a major talking point at this recent conference. Unlike similar announcements of HIV infection, Ms Anderson has not positioned herself as a celebrity campaigner — there is no princess or pop star championing the rights of people with hepatitis C or demanding extra funding for research or services. Hepatitis C has been characterised as an "epidemic of difference",1 affecting people from a wide variety of ethnic, cultural and class backgrounds, with implications for the ability of people with hepatitis C to organise and advocate for changes in policy to improve their lives.

1 National Centre in HIV Social Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.
2 Hepatitis C Council of NSW, Sydney, NSW.

Correspondence: c.treloar@unsw.edu.au

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