Elimination of hepatitis C (hep C) in Australia looks likely in the near future. When it happens, it will be because Burnet Institute put aside conventional approaches, and reached out to people who inject drugs (PWID).
Early hep C treatments were expensive. As a result, policy-makers wanted to restrict their use to people with severe liver disease. In particular, they didn’t want costly treatments ‘wasted’ on PWID who would soon be reinfected.
The inequity embedded in that approach didn’t sit well with the Burnet team. Instead, we worked closely with people who inject drugs, and studied how the disease was spreading through their social networks. We realised, and proved, that treating PWID, and their friends and contacts, would have a significant impact on the spread of the disease.
“We are aiming for elimination, we are leading the world on that, and the world is looking at us to do a really good job.” —Professor Margaret Hellard AM
We took this breakthrough knowledge to policy-makers and convinced them to shift to a universal-treatment footing, with a focus on people who inject drugs.
We now play a key implementation role, leading an alliance of researchers, public health specialists, community organisations, health services and government services across the country, all focused on the goal of eliminating hepatitis C in Australia by 2030.
Where are we now?
- Already, we’ve driven a 50% reduction in the prevalence of hep C, which puts us half way towards the goal of elimination.
- We have funded and implemented 21 Partnership Projects, improving health service delivery, care pathways and monitoring and evaluation.
- We have delivered the first peer-led National Health Promotion Campaign ‘It’s Your Right’.
- By end of 2030, EC Australia will have driven $5.8 billion net economic benefit and averted 15,700 infections and 8,500 deaths from hep C. EC Australia brings together researchers, public health specialists, community organisations, government and health services to work in partnership to focus on eliminating hepatitis C as a public health threat in Australia by 2030.
- And we’re now working in countries including Myanmar to expand hep C elimination efforts globally.