World Hepatitis Day is Thursday 28 July, and this year’s theme is elimination.
The goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030 has been set, with the 69th World Health Assembly unanimously adopting the Global Viral Hepatitis Strategy on 28 May 2016.
Exciting new treatments for hepatitis C, alongside already available vaccinations for hepatitis A and B, now mean that a world without viral hepatitis can be imagined.
Health providers are being encouraged to become familiar with the new treatments and start prescribing, so more people living with hepatitis C can benefit from the ground-breaking medications that offer 90 to 95 per cent cure rates.
General Practitioners (GPs) are now able to prescribe these treatments as long as this is done in consultation with a gastroenterologist, hepatologist or infectious disease physician.
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus which can cause cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure. In Australia, most infections result from sharing needles, syringes and other equipment used for injecting drugs.
Last year, there were 1,110 notifications of hepatitis C infections in Western Australian, and an estimated 20,510 people living with chronic hepatitis C – most of who could benefit from the new treatments.
The new treatments are less complex, have fewer side effects, and require a shorter course of treatment than previously available interferon-based medications, consisting of tablets that can be taken for a little as 8-12 weeks, and up to 24 weeks, depending on a patient’s genotype.