More than 400,000 Australians are directly affected by hepatitis B or hepatitis C. Many of those affected are unaware they are living with it and as a result, develop fatal liver disease and can unknowingly infect others. In Australia, care and treatment for hepatitis B and hepatitis C is accessible compared to other countries however, many Australians are not taking up this golden opportunity.
Last Friday 26 July North Richmond Community Health held a community event in partnership with Hepatitis Victoria and Harm Reduction Victoria to raise awareness of viral hepatitis for World Hepatitis Day. We used this opportunity to talk to our community about the hepatitis resources and treatments that are available. This also gave us a chance to share our recent publication of an educational comic book about hepatitis C, At the Crossroads developed by our Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) program.
North Richmond Community Health is committed to building on momentum and accelerating progress towards achieving the goal of eliminating hepatitis by 2030. Many of the hepatitis resources we share with our community and promote within our centre come in the form of videos, brochures, posters and even a world map showing those who are at the highest risk displayed in our waiting area.
We hope through sharing these resources we can raise more awareness to finding the missing millions and more importantly to encourage more Australians to get tested.
