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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Ronnie Marks, Founder and Director of Hepatitis C Mentor and Support Group
5:46:51
ยท
71 sec
Ronnie Marks, representing the Hepatitis C Mentor and Support Group, testified about the importance of increasing efforts to eliminate Hepatitis C in New York City. He emphasized the need for more workforce to reach vulnerable communities and address the stigma associated with the disease.
- Highlighted that Hepatitis C now has a cure, the first in over a century
- Stressed the need to combat stigma, as some people feel they don't deserve treatment
- Called for New York City to be the first city to eliminate Hepatitis C
Ronnie Marks
5:46:51
Good afternoon.
5:46:53
Excuse me.
5:46:54
Good afternoon, Chair Showman and Lee and members of the committee.
5:46:59
I wanna thank you for supporting the hepatitis community these past few years, but I'm here today more as a patient, a patient who has cured of hepatitis C.
5:47:12
Through my organization, the hepatitis C mentor and support group, we provide education and supportive services for the most vulnerable, sorry, communities on the ground.
5:47:26
It is imperative that we increase the workforce to be able to get to the people so that we can eliminate this virus.
5:47:36
It has a cure.
5:47:37
It's the first one in twenty in a hundred years that has a cure.
5:47:42
There is a stigma attached to this, and it's heartbreaking to hear people say that they don't deserve a cure because they gave this to themselves.
5:47:51
Everyone deserves to be cured.
5:47:54
Please help us eliminate hepatitis c in New York City.
5:47:58
Let's be the first city to do this.
5:48:01
Thank you.