American Legion Members,
Hepatitis C (hep C) is one of the largest health concerns facing veterans today, yet many don’t know they have it. According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, over 5 percent of veterans enrolled in the care of the Veterans Health Administration have hep C, a blood-borne virus, which causes inflammation of the liver that can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
The truth is hep C is curable – which means the hep C virus is not detectable in the blood months after treatment ends - but the first step is to get tested.
This week, The American Legion will join the fight to Take Down Hep C. The campaign is supported by AbbVie, Inc. a national corporate alliance of The American Legion. The goal is to educate veterans about hep C risks and encourage testing.
We are asking for your help with this campaign by doing the following:
- Educate yourself on hep C by visiting www.legion.org/TakeDownHepC
- Actively promote the campaign to Legion members and other veterans in your area by:
- Emailing Legion members announcing the campaign with link to campaign site (above)
- Announce the campaign at Legion events where members and other veterans are in attendance to educate them on hep C, encourage testing and point them to the website to learn more.
- Publish the link to campaign site (www.Legion.org/TakeDownHepC) on Department and Post websites.
- Most importantly, get the test yourself! If you have been tested, share your experience because it could help save the life of a fellow veteran.