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The late Gregg Allman honored with special award for his hepatitis C advocacy work

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Credit: Ian RawnOn Thursday night in Washington, D.C., Gregg Allman received a posthumous award named in his honor for his work in raising awareness about hepatitis C.

At the 15th anniversary National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHR) event, the late Rock & Roll Hall of Famer was presented with the Gregg Allman Hepatitis C Leadership Award, which his longtime manager Michael Lehman was on hand to accept.

The award recognizes Allman — who battled hepatitis C in his final years — for taking part in the “Tune In to Hep C” campaign, which raised awareness about the disease, and encouraged baby boomers to get tested.

As part of the campaign, Gregg played a benefit concert with The Allman Brothers Band at New York’s Beacon Theatre in 2011 that raised $250,000 for the NVHR and the American Liver Foundation.

“Gregg recognized an awareness gap, particularly among baby boomers who are infected with hepatitis C and either don’t realize they have the virus or just are not seeking treatment,” said Lehman in a statement. “He sought to remove the stigma with the message that it doesn’t matter how you contract hepatitis C — it only matters that you find it and treat it.”

Allman died in May at age 69 of complications from liver cancer. His final studio album, Southern Blood, was released in September.

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