Hepatitis Disease Awareness MonthPROCLAMATION
VILLAGE OF NORTH PALM BEACH
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
HEPATITIS DISEASE AWARENESS MONTH
WHEREAS, Palm Beach County recognizes Hepatitis C as a major public health issue, with many
who become infected are unaware of their diagnosis unless accurately diagnosed through testing.
Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the Hepatitis .0 virus (HCV) that typically produces no
symptoms. Over decades, it can lead to severe liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer. Most
of those infected are unaware that they have the disease. HCV is the most common chronic blood-
borne infection in the United States, with an estimated 4.1 million Americans (1.8 percent of the
population) being infected; and
WHEREAS, Palm Beach County ranked 3 d for Hepatitis C for the state of Florida in 2017, posing
increased public health challenges to our community; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, Florida reported 29,757 cases of Hepatitis C. Forty-seven percent of chronic
Hepatitis C cases are in individuals aged over 50 years, whereas 19 percent of chronic Hepatitis C
cases are in individuals aged under 30 years. However, 37 percent of acute, or newly infected Hepatitis
C cases are in individuals under 30 years of age; this is due in part to increasing rates of injection drug
use related to the opioid epidemic; and
WHEREAS, Palm Beach County recognizes Hepatitis C is transmitted via blood, most commonly by
injection drug use, and before 1992, by blood transfusion. No vaccine is available, and no medications
have proven effective in preventing infection after exposure however, it can be preventable through
prevention education, risk -reduction education, and community outreach; and
WHEREAS, Hepatitis Awareness Month provides an opportunity for Monarch Health Services, in
partnership with the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach county and the Village of North Palm
Beach to raise awareness about the impact of Hepatitis C in our communities and to promote the
importance of prevention, risk -reduction education, testing for, and treating Hepatitis C; and
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Darryl Aubrey, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Mayor of the
Village of North Palm Beach, do hereby proclaim May 2021 as:
HEPATITIS DISEASE AWARENESS MONTH
in the Village of North Palm Beach, Florida.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the Village of North
Palm Beach toybV affixed this 19th day of April, 2021.
Mayor