“Hepatitis C: a review of Australia’s response” Prepared by David Lowe and Ruth Cotton for the Department of Health and Aged Care, January 1999, Publication Production Unit (Public Affairs, Parliamentary and Access Branch) Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, Canberra

“The newly diagnosed person also has to make decisions about who to tell about the diagnosis and to be aware of the possible consequences.  Many report feeling isolated, ‘permanently scarred’ or ‘tainted’.  People living with hepatitis C live with fears, myths and misinformation about the disease and with the projected anxieties of others.”

“Discrimination, or the potential for it, is often reported.  Hepatitis C has acquired the label ‘the drug addict’s disease’, thus adding to the stigma attached to a communicable disease.  Discrimination can occur in social networks and in institutional settings such as schools, hospital, health and dental clinics, and child-care facilities, affecting access to services.”  Pg. 5-6

“Some (people who are positive for Hepatitis C Virus) have said they feel ‘marked’, ‘tainted’, ‘permanently scarred’, ‘ostracized’.  Many live with misinformation, myths and the projected fears and anxieties of non-infected people (family members, friends, work mates, the media) as well as others who have the virus.”  Pg 72

“Discrimination can occur in a variety of contexts.  Much of the discrimination people living with hepatitis C experience is a result of beliefs, values and attitudes associated with injecting drug use (that is, user phobia).”

“A person whose hepatitis C diagnosis becomes widely know may experience discrimination from broad social networks—friends, local businesses, sporting groups, and institutions such as schools, hospitals, health and dental clinics, and child care facilities.

Many instances of discrimination experienced by people living with hepatitis C have been reported.  Examples are access to children being denied because of a parent’s hepatitis C status; difficulty obtaining dental or medical care because of hepatitis C status; parents not allowing their children to play with children of hepatitis C—infected parents; discrimination based on the perception that all people with hepatitis C are drug users; and discrimination in the workplace (particularly in the hospitality industry).

At home, a person living with the virus may find their relationships change within the family unit.  The family will often make changes to personal hygiene and daily living habits to decrease the risk of household transmission.  This can be very isolating for the infected person….

….The different forms of discrimination reflect the differing effects of misinformation in the broader community, combined with general ‘germ phobia’ which is strongly attached to use phobia.  The myths, misrepresentation and misinformation about hepatitis C are extensive. “ pg 74

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