Nationwide campaign hopes to raise Hepatitis C awareness among younger Czechs

A campaign is currently underway around the country aimed at informing the younger generation of the dangers of Hepatitis C and the ways it can be transmitted. Information flyers are distributed at schools, dormitories, night clubs, and health centres. Sixty percent of Hepatitis C patients in the Czech Republic are intravenous drug users; other groups at risk are people who acquire tattoos and piercings, and sexually promiscuous individuals. Campaign organisers say most Czechs are unaware that the virus is transmitted primarily by blood and can stay in one's system undetected for decades. The virus can lead to various cirrhoses and liver cancer, which some 30 percent of patients die from.