Hepatitis Australia

The federal government today announced that liver biopsy would no longer be a mandatory prerequisite to commence government-funded treatment. Simple blood tests (ALT and HBV DNA) are now considered sufficient to assess whether treatment is appropriate or not. This is good news for people with chronic hepatitis B living in rural and remote Australia where access to liver biopsy is very limited and also good news for those reluctant to undergo this invasive test for cultural or other reasons.

Fibroscans (similar to an ultrasound) are available in some hospitals and can be used to assess liver damage, however, in certain circumstances, a liver biopsy may still be advisable. In these cases the client would need to provide their consent for this invasive procedure, having been fully informed by their treating doctor of the risks and benefits of the test over other options.

Dr Benjamin Cowie, Infectious Diseases Physician and Epidemiologist told Hepatitis Australia that ‘only 2.5% of Australians with hepatitis B currently receive antiviral treatment, however this needs to be scaled up to five times this number to prevent progressive liver disease and liver cancer’. He added that deaths due to liver cancer are increasing faster than any other internal malignancy in Australia, with over 80% of these attributable to chronic hepatitis B and C. Treatment for hepatitis B has proven to substantially reduce the risk of liver cancer in those for whom it is indicated, and comprehensive care for people living with hepatitis B is estimated to be a very cost effective cancer prevention strategy for Australia.

Consumers Health Forum of Australia released this informative guide to clinical trials at the Joint Medicines Policy Conference in August 2011.

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An application for Boceprevir, capsule, 200 mg, Victrelis® produced by Merck, Sharp & Dohme (Australia) Pty Ltd was put before the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) in July 2011. In clinical trials the addition of Boceprevir to the standard hepatitis C treatment has resulted in much higher treatment success rates for people with hepatitis C – genotype 1.

The application was for PBS listing of Boceprevir for use in patients 18 years or older who have compensated liver disease and who have never previously been treated or who had an unsuccessful outcome following one prior attempt with standard treatment. Unfortunately PBAC have determined that they cannot make a decision on the application until the Therapeutic Goods Administration outcome is known. Therefore the drug has not been approved by PBAC at the July 2011 meeting.

Please note this is a decision of PBAC not Cabinet. The government cannot make any recommendation to list a drug on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) unless it has been  recommended by PBAC

The Ministerial Advisory Committee for Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections (MACBBVS) met in Canberra on Friday 24 June 2011. 

The Chair, Professor Michael Kidd AM, acknowledged the completion of a full program of work during the period including the completion of a set of new national strategies, which, for the first time, was endorsed by every state and territory health minister.

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University of Newcastle scientist, Professor Adam McCluskey, together with colleagues in Australia and Germany, have created two molecular compounds that inhibit the function of the protein, Clathrin, which in 70 per cent of all viruses is used as a way to enter cells, he says ‘in layman’s terms, we’ve almost got an on-off switch’. This research opens up new approaches to treat conditions such hepatitis C.

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The WHO Western Pacific Region is pleased to announce a new Special Initiative website:  http://www.wpro.who.int/sites/RegionalHepBcontrol

This website is dedicated to the Western Pacific Region’s 2012 Hepatitis B Control milestone of reducing chronic infection rates in children to less than 2% and goal of 1% with the target year yet to be established.

The purpose of this website is to increase awareness of hepatitis B in the Region and how to prevent it. The primary focus is to serve the Region's Member States by organising resources for reducing the disease, measuring progress and verifying achievements (Stop-it, Measure-it, Verify-it).

Along with Member States, the website targets a general audience and partners by providing data, stories and descriptions of progress, challenges and unmet needs.

As a Melbourne doctor is accused of infecting more than 50 women with hepatitis C at a medical clinic, more than 200,000 Australians are battling the disease. Isabel Edwards is one of them.

Isabel tells the story of her life while struggling through her second round of treatment for Hepatitis C. To read Isabel's story about her Hepatitis C journey read the complete article. The enemy within.

Dr. Baruch S. Blumberg, the Nobel Prize-winning biochemist and medical anthropologist, discovered the hepatitis B virus and proved that it could cause liver cancer. His efforts continued through his involvement in developing a powerful vaccine to prevent hepatitis B, undoubtedly saving millions of lives.

Dr Blumberg died of a heart attack in Moffett Field in San Francisco Bay aged 85. Read the article.