ASHM CEO Speaks at Parliamentary Inquiry into Hepatitis C

SYDNEY - Jan. 22, 2015 - PRLog -- Following a referral from the former Minister for Health, the Standing Committee on Health has begun a Parliamentary Inquiry into Hepatitis C in Australia.

The inquiry terms of referenceincluded surveillance, testing, treatment, prevention and the costs associated with treating the short term and long-term impacts of hepatitis C in the community.

As one of the peak organisations in the viral hepatitis sector, ASHM was invited to contribute to the inquiry.

Representation

ASHM CEO Levinia Crooks first commented on the lack of primary care representation in either the Melbourne or Sydney hearings. As a key workforce for the delivery of hepatitis C testing and management, the Committee should have the opportunity to hear from primary care providers. In addition, the voice of the key priority population affected by hepatitis C, people who inject drugs were obvious in their absence from both meetings, with national organisations such as AIVL playing a large role in the Australian response to hepatitis C.

Underinvestment

A/Prof Crooks spoke about the lack of data on hepatitis C prevalence in Australia, with the last meeting of the Estimates and Projections Working Group, a group of experts that forms the basis of the consensus agreement around hepatitis C prevalence, held in 2006. This means the baseline against which to track progress of the National Strategy on Hepatitis C 2014-2017 or truly understand the burden of disease is in urgent need of updating. The last estimate was that approximately 230,000 Australians were infected with hepatitis C.

“The great work being done on disease staging is being compromised by the flawed base line. This data is essential for planning, monitoring and evaluation,” said A/Prof Crooks.

“There has been gross underinvestment in hepatitis C and viral hepatitis as a whole. There has never been strong bipartisan leadership at a national level.  As a result there has never been appropriate levels of investment in planning, sector development, research, surveillance, monitoring, community or clinical education. Investment must increase for similar gains which have been seen in other health areas. The current strategy is restricted to health.  A whole of government approach would allow consideration of legal, education and corrections issues all of which impact the hepatitis C pandemic”.

Testing and Treatment in settings appropriate for priority populations

Crooks also stated that treatment must be provided in settings that are accessible and appropriate for affected communities and that the effectiveness of primary care and community settings had been demonstrated repeatedly through community pilots.

“Options for testing also need to be expanded to include Point-of-Care Testing with trained operators, expanding the range of services at which tests could be offered. Treatment needs to occur prior to prolonged disease progression for optimal benefits and this means access should be available in the community.”

Prevention and Awareness

We need to invest in what we know works. We must work with the affected communities to break down the barriers to accessing care.

·        * Needle and Syringe Programs

·         * Peer education

·         * Aboriginal Medical Services

·         * Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities

·         * Providers of Opiate Substitution Therapy (OST)

·         * Youth Centres

·         * Drug and Alcohol services

·         * Prison prevention and treatment programs

Crooks called for greater leadership and commitment to promulgating information about emerging treatments through the expansion of both clinical and community education.

For more information about the inquiry, please visit www.aph.gov.au/hepatitisc

About ASHM

ASHM is the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine — a  peak organisation supporting the health care workforce in the areas of HIV, Viral Hepatitis, and Sexually Transmissible Infections. It is located in Sydney, Australia.