LA County Creates First U.S. Hepatitis Czar

(Los Angeles, California) Leave it to the left-coasters -- always aiming to be first.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced Friday the creation of the country's first-ever Hepatitis Coordinator position.

Officials planned to discuss the position Friday at the daylong Fifth Annual Hepatitis C Summit being held at the California Endowment Center in downtown Los Angeles.

The summit is designed to focus attention on the Hepatitis C epidemic, which affects an estimated 180,000 people nationwide, 30 percent of whom are also infected with HIV.

I apologize for the rather snarky approach to this story. It's a serious subject and problem for West Coast and other cities. Maybe by developing a more systematic game plan with a defined organization, the problem of hepatitis can be handled more successfully. I wish them luck.