Media Release

For: Immediate Release – Media Advisory
Date: November 3, 2003
Contact: Lorraine Asselin Moynihan, Office of HIV & AIDS
Hepatitis C Coordinator/Program Manager, 401-222-7544

Tri-STATE VIRAL HEPATITIS SUMMIT

WHAT: The conference is designed to provide Healthcare Professionals the opportunity to develop clinical and practical competence in the care of patients living with Viral Hepatitis B and C and co-infection with HIV

Presenters: Dr. Hal Margolis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Leonard B. Seeff, National Institutes of Health; Dr. Raymond Chung, Massachusetts General Hospital; Dr. Mitchell Shiffman, Virginia Commonwealth University; Dr. Diana L. Sylvestre, University of California, San Francisco; Dr. James Garcia, Yale University School of Medicine; Dr. Alfred DeMaria, Massachusetts Dept. of Health; Dr. Ann Spaulding, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Raymond Koff, ROCHE Laboratories; Dr. Daniel Pratt , New England Medical Center; Dr. Sylvia Degli-Esposti, Brown University – Women & Infants Hospital; Dr. Lorna Dove, New York Presbyterian Hospital; and Dr. Edward Feller, Brown University.

WHERE: Hilton Mystic Hotel, 20 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, Connecticut

WHEN: Monday, November 10 and Tuesday, November 11, 2003

WHY: In 2002, more than 1,800 laboratory test results were reported as positive for Hepatitis C in Rhode Island. In 1999, Rhode Island conducted a study that declared about 14,000 residents were infected with Hepatitis C, and the state expects 60 – 70% of those patients to develop active liver disease over the next 30 years.

The summit is designed to bring faculty to the forum who are knowledgeable about viral hepatitis and its prevention and management, together with other providers who are eager to learn more about viral hepatitis. The event is co-sponsored by the Hepatitis Foundation International in cooperation with the Departments of Health from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

To arrange interviews with speakers prior to November 7, contact Jodie Klein at (703) 528-3333. After November 7, call Thelma Thiel at (301) 332-5232.