Neil Hudson, 35, discovered by accident during routine health checks that he had caught hepatitis C virus from infected blood he had received while critically ill in hospital years earlier.
Neil, from South London, says he is one of the lucky ones because he has since been able to get the treatment that can cure between 50-80% of those with the virus.
Only 1-2% of the 466,000 people believed to be infected with hepatitis C in the UK are on such treatment, partly because six out of seven remain undiagnosed, experts estimate.
Such figures have prompted the Hepatitis C Trust, which says the UK lags behind many other European countries in its diagnosis and treatment of the disease, to call for urgent government action.
Neil says it is vital that more people get tested and treated.
"If you have ever had a piercing, a tattoo, if you shared any razors or toothbrushes, if you have snorted cocaine, if you have used intravenous drugs or if you have had a blood transfusion or received blood products, there is a chance that you could have hepatitis C.
"That's not scaremongering. That's fact. That is how the virus is transmitted.
"There could be an awful lot of people who don't know that they are infected.
"If you think you are at risk, you should get tested because there is something you can do about it now rather than let it eat away at your liver and take away the standard of your life and even your life. "
Source
Neil, from South London, says he is one of the lucky ones because he has since been able to get the treatment that can cure between 50-80% of those with the virus.
Only 1-2% of the 466,000 people believed to be infected with hepatitis C in the UK are on such treatment, partly because six out of seven remain undiagnosed, experts estimate.
Such figures have prompted the Hepatitis C Trust, which says the UK lags behind many other European countries in its diagnosis and treatment of the disease, to call for urgent government action.
Neil says it is vital that more people get tested and treated.
"If you have ever had a piercing, a tattoo, if you shared any razors or toothbrushes, if you have snorted cocaine, if you have used intravenous drugs or if you have had a blood transfusion or received blood products, there is a chance that you could have hepatitis C.
"That's not scaremongering. That's fact. That is how the virus is transmitted.
"There could be an awful lot of people who don't know that they are infected.
"If you think you are at risk, you should get tested because there is something you can do about it now rather than let it eat away at your liver and take away the standard of your life and even your life. "
Source
