HONOLULU (KHON2) — Considered once to be a lifelong disease, Hepatitis C has now been treated and cured in 1,000 patients at Kaiser Permanente.

Hawaii is said to be among the states with the highest liver cancer rates, largely due to viral hepatitis, this achievement highlights the impact of detection and treatment in changing and saving lives.

“Hawaii has one of the highest rates of liver cancer in the United States, and the leading causes are viral hepatitis,” said Thaddeus Pham, viral hepatitis prevention coordinator at the Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) and someone whom Dr. Collis considers a bedrock of hepatitis care in the Hawaii community. “Given the impact of viral hepatitis on our local communities, we partner with health care organizations and community-based agencies across the state to enhance access to hepatitis services, including testing, immunizations, care coordination, and treatment.”

Honolulu resident, Paul Lance, one of the clinic’s early patients, was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1986.

After undergoing 11 months of treatment, Lance was cured. “I consider myself very lucky that it worked,” said Lance. “The viral hepatitis clinic is helping so many people, and I’m very, very grateful to them.”

The significant milestone in Kaiser’s Hepatitis C care is revolutionary to the medical field. The community is still encouraged to get vaccinated and see a doctor at the earliest sign of infection.

An estimated 2 million adults in the U.S. have chronic hepatitis C, with new infections on the rise. Many patients are unaware they have the virus, as it often remains asymptomatic.

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“One thousand patients — it feels like both a big number and a small number at the same time,” said Dr. Collis. “To me, it feels like a thousand stories and a thousand lives whose trajectories have been transformed for the better. That’s a wonderful feeling and an incredible story to tell.”