Hepatitis Australia says the Senate inquiry into Australia's contaminated blood scandal should be an opportunity to strengthen efforts to identify and treat hepatitis C wherever people may be at risk.
As reported by the ABC, the Senate this week voted to establish an inquiry into the circumstances that saw thousands of Australians acquire hepatitis C or HIV through contaminated blood products and blood transfusions from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Hepatitis Australia said the inquiry would rightly examine the experiences of people affected by historical transmission, while also providing an important opportunity to renew the national focus on hepatitis C testing, treatment and prevention.
That includes ensuring people who may have acquired hepatitis C through historical blood transfusions are tested, as well as strengthening testing and treatment in settings where hepatitis C remains more common today, including prisons.
Around 8 per cent of people in Australian prisons are living with hepatitis C, highlighting the importance of making testing and treatment readily available in custodial settings.
Hepatitis Australia CEO Lucy Clynes said Australia now had the tools to cure hepatitis C and needed to ensure they reached everyone who could benefit.
"This inquiry will shine an important light on people who acquired hepatitis C through Australia's blood supply, but it should also focus our attention on the work still to be done today.
"We need to make it easy for people to be tested and treated wherever they are, whether they were exposed through a blood transfusion decades ago, are in a prison setting or may have been exposed in other circumstances.
"The most important message is that hepatitis C can now be cured. If you think you may have been exposed, please get tested and get connected to treatment."
More than 110,000 Australians have been cured of hepatitis C since treatments became universally available through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in 2016, but an estimated 63,000 people are still living with hepatitis C.
Ms Clynes said anyone who received a blood transfusion or blood product before donor screening began in 1990, or who may have been exposed to hepatitis C in other circumstances, should consider getting tested.
"More than 110,000 Australians have already been cured. We now need to make sure everyone still living with hepatitis C has that same opportunity."
Ms Clynes said stigma could remain a barrier to people seeking testing and care.
"How someone acquired hepatitis C should never determine whether they are deserving of treatment or support.
"Stigmatising language can stop people from coming forward. What matters is identifying everyone living with hepatitis C, treating them with dignity and connecting them with a cure."
Hepatitis Australia operates HepLink, a free national hepatitis information and referral service available to anyone, anywhere in Australia.
HepLink provides confidential telehealth access to testing, treatment and support without the need for a referral. Its Nurse Navigator and hepatitis workers can arrange blood tests and, where appropriate, prescribe hepatitis C treatment.
"If you received a blood transfusion or blood product before 1990, think you may have been exposed to hepatitis C, or simply have questions about your hepatitis status, HepLink can help you take the next step."
Anyone with questions about their hepatitis status can contact HepLink on 1800 437 222 or visit heplink.au.
About us:
Hepatitis Australia is the national peak community organisation working to eliminate hepatitis B and hepatitis C in Australia. It represents eight state and territory community hepatitis organisations and advocates for the rights, health and dignity of people affected by viral hepatitis.
