hepC MASH

It may look like a scene out of M*A*S*H this week in 7 northern centres.

That’s because a team of nurses will be wearing M*A*S*H gear as they travel around the north doing Hep C testing.

In this case M*A*S*H stands for Mobilizing Access to Services for Hepatitis.

This is year 2 of the road show.

Two nurses each from North Bay, Sudbury and Sault Ste Marie will be making the trip which starts today and wraps up on Friday.

One of the North Bay representatives is the nurse practitioner at the Aids Committee of North Bay and area Keri McGuire-Trahan.

She says the total number of people with Hep C and Hep B is equal to 1 out of every 12 people in the world and she calls it a silent epidemic.

They’ll be joined by other staff when they get to each community.

McGuire-Trahan says the North Bay district is quite large in terms of area from Parry Sound in the south to Cochrane in the north.

Among the stops are Pic Mobert, Espanola, Wawa, Chapleau, Cochrane, Timmins and Kirkland Lake.

She says they are funding this road trip themselves through donations and sponsorships.