700 Silent Voices

Another World Hepatitis Day passes us by, same old same old ! A handful of people sharing posts, a few retweets, a couple of likes, the odd fav. Out of 700 people that are connected to me here on Twitter, 80% of which, are involved in one drug and alcohol org or another... 'Advocates !'


I can understand folks not bothering with my stuff, when someone bangs on and on about a certain subject, it can be a turn off, I get that, but from my own observations there is absolutely no sense of the Drug and Alcohol community uniting on this crucial day, a day which in my opinion, addresses the biggest harm reduction issue facing addicts and their families


Addaction, has been involved with testing service users for a while now and I praise them for that. Drug and alcohol services are the front line, the obvious place to help people come to terms with the possibility of hepatitis. Scotland seems well ahead of the UK on this score, with talk of pharmacy's offering hep c testing as well as lots of in-house testing for service users.


Its a very delicate subject, no doubt, nobody wants to be the bearer of such bad news, D&A are about the business of drugs and alcohol and all the issues this encompasses, so let the hospitals deal with hep c detection ? We need a tailored hybrid services to face this viral epidemic in my opinion, we also need drug companies to start putting people before profit, because of such companies hospitals are no longer in a position to offer everyone treatment, even if we could get everyone tested only a handful would qualify for these expensive drugs, its disgraceful, its the perfect storm !


Does this mean we might as well give up, does it fuck ! If the people involved in the drug and alcohol sector, wont grasp the nettle, then who the hell will ?


Peace

World Hepatitis Day 2015

Well here we are again, the eve of World Hepatitis Day. Whilst I have not posted on here for quite a while, I have kept up the hep c awareness each year since clearing the virus, last year it was Helvellyn via Striding Edge...


This year its either Kinder Scout or Win Hill depending on how my knee holds up on the day lol.


I turned my focus to drug recovery after coming off the methadone that helped me through the 5 yrs it took to do two rounds of hep c treatment, I ended my script three months after completing the 3 Peaks Challenge, on the day after my birthday ( best birthday present I ever gave myself.)


Walking gave me a focus during hep c treatment, walking up mountains took it to another level. I could have never imagined that I would find it so enjoyable, its something I shall continue to do for as long as my body will allow.


So please, if you read this post, help me by sharing the blog, so others may see its never too late to turn your life around and if your wondering about getting tested, just do it ! There are lots of services around the country offering free hepatitis c testing tomorrow 28.7.15,  check out 'Addaction' they are all over the country and are testing tomorrow.


My walk celebrates the process of treatment and recovery, from hep c and addiction, after 30 years I am thankfully clear of both, I wish the same for you !




Peace