McCann Health in Japan has been appointed by Gilead Sciences in Japan to launch a significant direct to consumer disease awareness campaign to encourage people with Hepatitis C to visit their doctor.
The campaign intends to educate the public on the significant advancement in HCV therapy where patients in Japan can now aim for a cure of this chronic disease with oral treatment in as little as 12 weeks. A cure from HCV is associated with significantly reduced rates of cirrhosis, liver cancer, and death. The benefits of achieving a cure have also been associated with an increased quality of life.
With most Hepatitis C sufferers in Japan being elderly citizens who contracted the disease through no fault of their own from a tainted vaccination program in the 1950s, the outcomes of this campaign are potentially very important for Japanese patients, their families and the broader community to understand this is a disease that can be cured and eventually eliminated in Japan.