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Opinion: The U.S. needs extra action to eliminate viral hepatitis, the nation’s deadliest infectious disease

To eliminate viral hepatitis, we must enlist civil society to advocate for additional resources, testing, and treatment. When all sectors of society advocate for change, policymakers listen.
Hepatitis C virus model

I traveled to Boston last weekend for the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. This meeting is personal for me — it was where 11 years ago I decided to begin treatment for hepatitis C, which I had been diagnosed with nearly 20 years earlier.

Hepatitis C is the nation’s deadliest infectious disease and a leading cause of liver cancer. Although recent advances in treatment represent lifesaving progress, more must be done to deliver on the promise of these advances and eliminate viral hepatitis in the United States.

I was

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