Table 3 Personal barriers

GEOFF: Er, I don't know really, [pause] er, I don't really know, I mean, I think like I say, I think people are just frightened ye na [you know]. People are frightened to get the test ye na [you know], thinking that it could be a killer not knowing what, not knowing what it actually is, what it actually does to you, I mean?

ANDY: When I hear people on about it, it's, it kills you and that's it, (Uh hm) when you get it that's it. There's no way of getting rid of it, you've got it for life (Uh hm) and all the rest of it. Which, isn't quite true. I mean you can have it for the rest of your life, but you can clear it (Uh hm). There is like you say treatments available where you can get rid of it.

DANNY: Em, like I thought Hepatitis could live out of the body, certain Hepatitis's, but that some can't and some can. And the ones that I thought could, couldn't.. Things like that and I thought you could catch Hepatitis from like using towels and stuff but you can't.

EMMA(a): 'Cause I've got, there's no way I'm not having no, even if it was a one per cent chance of passing it down to me bairn [child] I wouldn't have it... Me bairn's done nowt [nothing], so it didn't ask to be born... to a junkie mother.

CHRISSIE: I had to, I had to do well most of it meself, with 'em I had to help because they couldn't get vein do you know what I mean? I had to have a go myself to try and get them something do you know?

TONY: I, the way I would think of it is more private. More privacy round it. Because there's a lot of people don't want to know they've got it because when you've got to put your sheets in and all that, you come down here with twenty, thirty other people and they're all what ye here for and all the rest of it.

EMMA(b): There was a lass with Hep C on Landing 2 and it was "Heppie" and that they call her, do you know what I mean? Yeah. Not very nice.

GARY: Well I know that it's contracted through blood ..., er it's very rare em and you can catch it through intercourse, sexual intercourse er, there's not many people that have, and the people that say that they have, I generally don't believe. I think they're just too embarrassed to say that they've been injecting drugs