A new Burnet study finds introducing an hepatitis C outreach and treatment program in Australian community pharmacies, particularly those offering opioid agonist therapy, could significantly increase testing, diagnosis, and cure of those living with the blood-borne virus.
Australia has made strong progress in the fight towards eliminating hepatitis C, but more than 6,000 new infections still occur each year.
The study shows that providing testing and treatment in more accessible locations, like community pharmacies, can make a real difference.
Despite initial costs, this approach has been proven cost-effective compared to standard care, particularly by reaching underserved populations and improving overall health outcomes.
Burnet public health registrar Dr Joshua Ginnane is the first author of ‘Cost-Effectiveness of Treating Hepatitis C in Clients on Opioid Agonist Therapy in Community Pharmacies Compared to Primary Healthcare in Australia’, published in the Journal of Viral Hepatitis this week.
He explained that people who have a history of injecting drugs are at greatly increased risk for hepatitis C infection.
“For some people, accessing testing and treatment for hepatitis C through mainstream healthcare services can be difficult due to stigma, limited access, associated costs, and competing priorities,” Dr Ginnane said.
“People on opioid replacement therapy often attend their pharmacy multiple times per week and develop good relationships with the health professionals on site.”
This research forms the foundation of the innovative EXPAND-C initiative led by Professor Joseph Doyle, deputy program director of Disease Elimination.
The $1.7M project, funded by Burnet’s accelerator program, Burnext, will provide hepatitis C testing and treatment at 100 pharmacies over 24-months.
Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvh.14015