World Hepatitis Day was July 28. This year the message is clear: It’s time for action – get out, get tested, get cured and live your best life.
Almost 300,000 people in Australia are living with hepatitis B or hepatitis C, putting them at increased risk of liver disease and liver cancer. They shouldn’t have to. Hepatitis B has effective treatment and a vaccine. Hepatitis C has a cure and is preventable.
In 2024, all Australian governments are re-committing to eliminate hepatitis by 2030 and are accelerating action with the release of the Fourth National Hepatitis B Strategy and Sixth National Hepatitis C Strategy.
Australia’s national hepatitis strategies have undergone significant consultation over the past two years and are strongly supported by the community, researchers and health professionals.
Speaking in Redfern at an event hosted by Hepatitis NSW, Sydney Local Health District nursing coordinator and 2016 recipient of the Cheryl Burman Award for outstanding commitments toward improving the life of people living with hepatitis, Janice Pritchard-Jones, said: “It’s fantastic to be a part of this, seeing so much energy going into working on stigma and discrimination, and having wonderful partnerships, having GPs that are interested, having a whole range of colleagues that are interested in hepatitis work, in hepatitis prevention, and getting people into care.”
The expected release of the national hepatitis strategies means Australia has the green light to succeed but communities need resources on the ground. Only 60 per cent of the people living with hepatitis C have initiated direct-acting antiviral cures. Three quarters of people living with hepatitis B are still not receiving regular care.
Hepatitis B
More than 200,000 people in Australia are living with chronic hepatitis B.
In 2018 Australia set seven targets for hepatitis B to be achieved by 2022. Only one of these targets (childhood vaccination coverage) has been met.
Over 25 per cent of people living with chronic hepatitis B still have not been diagnosed and are unaware of their infection. Three quarters of all people living with chronic hepatitis B are not receiving regular care. The number of people who received hepatitis B monitoring has declined over time, with 2,500 fewer people being monitored in 2022 compared to 2019 (a 9 per cent decrease). Only 13 per cent of people living with chronic hepatitis B are getting antiviral treatment. This is less than half the 29 per cent of people who need treatment.
In 2022 there were an estimated 466 deaths attributable to hepatitis B, a 7 per cent increase since 2017 and well above the National Strategy 2022 target of 30 per cent reduction from 2017. Without continued investment and action, Australia will not meet its 2030 hepatitis B elimination targets. More importantly, the people living with chronic hepatitis B who are not receiving regular care risk developing severe liver disease and liver cancer in the future.
It is anticipated that a cure for hepatitis B will become available in the coming decade. Researching and developing cures for chronic hepatitis B would save many millions of lives globally and help ensure the elimination of hepatitis B by 2030.
Hepatitis C
There is now an effective and affordable cure for hepatitis C. An estimated 60 per cent of all people living with hepatitis C at the start of 2016 had initiated antiviral treatment by the end of 2022. Despite this, more than 74,000 people are still living with hepatitis C in Australia.
Approximately one in five people living with chronic hepatitis C have not been diagnosed and are unaware of their infection. Of those who are considered “diagnosed”, one-quarter have not received confirmatory testing to know whether their hepatitis C is chronic. Community outreach is needed to reach the 20 per cent who are undiagnosed and those who have not had their hepatitis status confirmed.
Prisons are now the primary sites of transmission nationally and help sustain the hepatitis C epidemic in Australia. Approximately 80,000 people are incarcerated annually in Australia and more than 15 per cent are living with hepatitis C. People in prison are being needlessly infected (and reinfected following cure) because the current responses are not sufficient to prevent transmission.
Without continued investment and action, Australia will not meet its 2030 hepatitis C elimination targets. More importantly, the people living with hepatitis C risk developing severe liver disease and liver cancer in the future.
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Hepatitis NSW: https://www.hep.org.au and Hepatitis Infoline 1800 803 990.
Also, visit www.HepLink.au or phone 1800 437 222.
