The federal Health Department is proposing “a population-wide universal offer of hepatitis B testing with informed consent for adults”, according to a draft document published online.
It said this would ensure all Australians knew their hepatitis status and would connect people to regular monitoring, treatment and education to prevent transmission.
Currently, pregnancy is the only time universal testing for hepatitis B occurs.
The proposal to offer universal testing is a departure from previous testing guidelines targeting at-risk communities, including people born in North and South-east Asia and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
It is part of a federal government effort to eliminate hepatitis B as a public health threat by 2030. The new strategy is to be released in the middle of the year.
The universal testing is likely to be delivered in primary care settings, such as GP clinics.
Cancer Council Victoria chief executive Todd Harper said deaths linked to chronic hepatitis B were preventable through increased testing and clinical care.
Universal hepatitis B vaccination for babies born in Australia began in 2000.Credit: iStockphoto
“It’s a devastating diagnosis for people to receive,” Harper said, adding that liver cancer was the seventh most common cause of cancer death in Australia.
He said people diagnosed with liver cancer had a 23 per cent chance of surviving for five years compared with an average of 70 per cent for other cancers.
Many people can have hepatitis B for decades without needing antiviral treatment. This is because their immune system is effective at suppressing the virus. But the virus can suddenly reactivate, escaping the control of the immune system, leading to liver damage and greatly increasing the risk of liver cancer.
Loading
The rollout of universal hepatitis B vaccines for all babies born in Australia from 2000 has reduced local transmission, and means that those under 25 are protected against the virus. Countries in neighbouring regions also rolled out similar immunisation programs at the same time.
Lien Tran discovered she had hepatitis B when she was aged 18 and about to embark on the trip of a lifetime. It was the early 2000s and the aspiring health researcher from Vietnam had won a scholarship to study in Europe but had to jump one final hurdle: a mandatory health check.
A doctor in Hanoi told Tran the devastating news.
“He told me I had hepatitis B and was unable to go overseas,” she recalls.
Tran turned down her scholarship (she found out years later that she would have still been allowed to study abroad) and spent many months thinking she was going to die. Her grandmother had died from liver cancer, which the family suspected was linked to hepatitis B. Her mother also has hepatitis B.
Loading
Tran’s fear that she was going to die was replaced with complacency after she researched the infection online. It wasn’t until she wed a decade later and started thinking about having children that she began regularly monitoring her infection. Tran’s two children received hepatitis B immunisations and injections of antibodies at birth to ensure they did not contract the disease. She has not needed to take antiviral medication.
“The family line of hepatitis B stops with me,” she said.
Tran migrated to Australia with her family a decade ago and is co-founder of Hepatitis B Voices Australia, a charity led by people affected by the condition that aims to improve health outcomes.
“We want people to stop feeling stigmatised,” she said.
Hepatitis Australia chief executive Lucy Clynes said hepatitis B was not part of routine blood tests, so many people were unaware they had it until serious liver damage had occurred.
“Testing and linking individuals to treatment … can significantly reduce the risk of liver cancer and other serious complications,” she said.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Read the full article here
