Members of UNM's School of Medicine are working with health care providers from around the state on a landmark program that will train medical professionals how to manage hepatitis C and its lengthy treatment process.
Sanjeev Arora, professor of gastroenterology at UNM's School of Medicine and director of the program, said the training program is based upon the University's extensive knowledge of the disease and uses technology to aid clinicians from around the state in their plight to fight the disease that plagues more than 30,000 people in New Mexico.
"The problem that we are facing is that we now have very useful treatments for this disease but don't have enough specialists in all areas of the state to fight it properly," Arora said.
Started in May, the program uses teleconferencing to interact with the more than 50 health care providers from pilot sites within the New Mexico Corrections Department and the state Department of Health on specific cases and trains them on UNM's protocol for handling hepatitis C.
Arora said during the weekly sessions UNM experts will also be on hand to offer advice to participating clinicians. He added that hopes are high that the program will reach a level of success that will act as a template for the fighting of other diseases.
"This program is especially important because it may serve as a model for the treatment of other diseases," Arora said. "It is crucial that in a state like New Mexico, where resources are spread thin, that we come together and pool our knowledge to fight diseases like hepatitis C, which, without treatment, will kill 3,000 to 4,000 New Mexicans within the next decade."
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Hepatitis C is contracted from coming in contact with an infected person's blood. Without treatment, the disease can lead to cirrhosis and liver failure. Arora said this, along with the fact that less than 5 percent of infected New Mexicans are being treated, adds to the urgency of the situation.
He added that the treatment of the disease isn't easily managed. He said its side effects have to be managed with a regiment of medications and an overall lifestyle change.
Tia Bland, chief public information officer with the state's Corrections Department, said the program is pivotal for the state's prison system, which houses about 3,000 inmates with the disease.
"Although we are just in the educational phase of the program, we hope to begin treatment with the help of the UNM team within the month," Bland said. "We recognize that diseases such as hepatitis C are a reality within our institutions and the more capable we are of treating them the better off our society will be as a whole."
