WELLINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Health Minister David Clark is asking New Zealanders to listen up to a national campaign, encouraging people to get tested for hepatitis C so that those who have the disease can be cured.
The Hepatitis Foundation of New Zealand, the Health Promotion Agency and the Ministry of Health will jointly launch a campaign called "Get Hep C Tested" starting on Monday to raise awareness and encourage more people to get tested and treated.
About 50,000 people in New Zealand have the chronic liver infection, Clark said on Sunday, adding that "The problem is almost half of them don't know it."
Clark said hepatitis C can lead to liver cancer, and people can get infected in many ways such as sharing tattoo gear or needles.
"If you have ever injected drugs, even just once a long time ago, you should get tested," he said, adding that the Pharmaceutical Management Agency this month began funding a new hepatitis C treatment, Maviret, which has the potential to cure more than 99 percent of cases.
"The biggest issue now is finding those people who don't know they have the disease so we can treat them, and that's why this campaign is so timely," Clark said.
