The Aids Committee of North Bay and Area now has its outreach van.
ACNBA unveiled the specialty vehicle in front of North Bay City Hall on World Hepatitis Day.
Keri McGuire-Trahan is a nurse practitioner who says the van’s coverage area goes from Mattawa to Sturgeon Falls and from Parry Sound to Moosonee.
McGuire-Trahan says it replaces a vehicle the ACNBA used to rent to carry out its outreach work however this was a costly affair.
But the outreach van is now a reality for the ACNBA thanks to a donation from Specialty Rx Solutions, a group of health care professionals who deal with medical matters like Hepatitis and various cancers.
McGuire-Trahan says the back of the van is outfitted with harm reduction kits like fresh needles, inhalation kits, naloxone kits to reverse a drug overdose and condoms.
The front is the nursing area where staff are able to treat minor wounds and in some instances hand out prescriptions.
McGuire-Trahan says the agency has had the van for about a month and it’s been very busy since it goes out on the road several times a week.
The vehicle was unveiled on World Hepatitis Day to call more attention to the disease.
McGuire-Trahan says when people think of Hepatitis C, “they first think of drug addicts.”
“There’s a huge stigma there,” she said.
But the reality is Hep C can strike virtually anyone and the person won’t know it.
“It can silently be doing damage,” McGuire-Trahan said.
“You might feel fatigued, have a headache or achy joints.”
McGuire-Trahan explains people born from 1945 to 1975 are at risk because a lot of people were immunized with needles that were used more than once.
She says anything that involves blood-to-blood transmission, like piercings or tattoos, could result in Hepatitis.
And the disease is hard to kill.
“You can’t just wash it off or bleach it,” she said.
“It will last for several days on a hard surface so it’s easy to transmit. People can actually be Hep C positive and not know it for several decades. I have people who have had it for 20 years and are just now starting to question why they’re feeling fatigued.”
McGuire-Trahan says there’s a movement underway to have everyone in Canada tested for Hepatitis C at least once in their lives.
The disease is curable with treatment.
One of the advantages of the outreach van is it can give a person a Hepatitis C test on the spot.
McGuire-Trahan says it’s a finger poke test that takes only 20 minutes.
She adds soon the van will also have the ability to carry out an HIV test which is also a finger poke test that takes five minutes.