On #WorldHepatitisDay, 28 July 2023, health and community organisations and governments in Australia joined with the World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA), World Health Organization and a global network of over 300 WHA members in nearly 100 countries in a call to accelerate elimination efforts of viral hepatitis now.

The theme “Hepatitis Can’t Wait” highlights the need to accelerate viral hepatitis elimination efforts, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. 

World Hepatitis Day Events across Australia

This year saw fantastic support and coverage for World Hepatitis Day. Just some of the events listed on the Australian World Hepatitis Day calendar included:

• Hep B community Research Showcase.
• Hepatitis SA’s Online Quiz and Rapid Hep C Testing Pop-up Clinic.
• World Hepatitis Alliance: Community Forum.
• Hepatitis Queensland’s Hepatitis quiz and campaign.
• Kirby Institute: Progress towards hepatitis C elimination: Insights from modelling.
• Hepatitis NSW’s #HepCured 2023 campaign.
• NTAHC’s Love your liver Brunch.
• Burnet Institute and Doherty Institute’s 2023 World Hepatitis Day Joint Symposium.
• CSRH: Annual Report of Trends in Behaviour 2023: Viral Hepatitis in Australia.
• Victorian Hepatitis B Alliance (VHBA)’s Spotlight on Hepatitis B.
• Liverwell’s Let’s Take Action Campaign.

Thank you to everyone who organised, attended and helped to promote those events. Together, we have achieved substantial outcomes, from raising awareness to advocating for better policies and support systems.

World Hepatitis Day National Parliamentary Event

The World Hepatitis Day National Parliamentary Event was undoubtedly a success. We were thrilled to see key community members, MPs, Senators, policymakers, and advocates come together to discuss the urgent need for action against hepatitis and to make multi-partisan commitments. The discussions held during the event have set the stage for meaningful policy changes and increased awareness at a national level.

Speakers included:

• Selina Walker, Senior Ngunnawal woman
• Rebecca Johnson, OAM, Community Member & Hepatitis Australia Director
• The Hon Emma McBride MP, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and Assistant Minister Rural and Regional Health
• Senator The Hon Anne Ruston, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care
• Senator Louise Pratt, Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Friends Group
• Senator Dean Smith, Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Friends Group
• John Didlick, Policy Analyst, Hepatitis Australia
• Stuart Manoj-Margison, Director, Communicable Diseases, National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO)
• John Gobeil, CEO, Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL)
• Mish Pony, CEO, Scarlet Alliance
• Lien Tran, Co-founder and Vice Chair, Hepatitis B Voices Australia
• Grant Phelps, President, Hepatitis Australia
• Carrie Fowlie, CEO, Hepatitis Australia

More photos of the parliamentary event.

63 Australian landmarks glowed green for World Hepatitis Day

Thanks to our member organisations’ coordination, supporters of World Hepatitis Day illuminated landmarks across Australia with vibrant green lights. This gesture was not only a tribute to those affected by viral hepatitis but also a powerful call for global decision-makers to prioritise the elimination of viral hepatitis by 2030. The colour green, symbolises life, vitality, and progress, perfectly embodies the spirit of the #NOhep initiative to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030. Launched by the World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) on World Hepatitis Day 2016, this initiative has garnered worldwide recognition.

List of landmarks 

Media coverage on World Hepatitis Day

This year we had unprecedented interest and support from media and radio. Many of our members were able to speak and provide interviews on elimination efforts and advocate for required services, as well as providing opportunities for community members impacted by hepatitis B or C to share their stories directly.

List of media coverage

2023 Factsheet available in multiple languages

The 2023 World Hepatitis Day Factsheet is available in Simplified Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic and English. We encourage you to download and share this resource with your communities:

• Simplified Chinese World Hepatitis Day Factsheet 2023
• Vietnamese World Hepatitis Day Factsheet 2023
• Arabic World Hepatitis Day Factsheet 2023
• English World Hepatitis Day Factsheet 2023

Steps towards elimination

All Australian governments have committed to eliminating hepatitis B and hepatitis C by 2030, but to achieve this they need to resource communities to provide appropriate information and support tailored to their needs. On 28th July, we united our voices to amplify the call for increased action and support for those affected by hepatitis. Your participation and support were essential in raising awareness and advocating for a brighter future.

We are reminded that these achievements are a testament to the power of unity and shared purpose. We thank you for being a part of this journey with us.

Together, we will continue to make a meaningful difference towards the global objective of elimination of hepatitis B and C.

World Hepatitis Day, held on 28 July each year, is an international annual day observed by the United Nations and one of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) seven officially mandated global public health days.

World Hepatitis Day is an opportunity to step up national and international efforts on hepatitis, encourage actions and engagement by individuals, partners and the public and highlight the need for a greater global response as outlined in the WHO's Global hepatitis report of 2017.

Internationally, branding and activities are delivered and coordinated by both the World Health Organization and the World Hepatitis Alliance, with over 160 countries delivering activities worldwide.

In Australia, World Hepatitis Day is coordinated by Hepatitis Australia to raise awareness and promote action on viral hepatitis. 

2022 Australian World Hepatitis Day on-demand events 

Webinar: Family is complicated: Supporting families and people living with HIV, hepatitis C, or hepatitis B

The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society's July Research and Practice Seminar, in conjunction with World Hepatitis Day 2022, UNSW's Anthony KJ Smith, Christy Newman and Kerryn Drysdale explore the ways that family complexity and family inclusion affects people living with blood-borne virus in terms of stigma, education, care and broader life.

Webinar on The changing legal needs of people with Blood-Borne Viruses

Clinicians, support workers, peers and lawyers are often asked to support individuals living with a blood-borne virus through various legal processes, but what do these legal needs look like? How are they changing over time? What impacts do these legal needs have on people with blood-borne viruses, and which are their highest priorities?

Join ASHM, HALC, UTS Law, Hepatitis Australia and NAPWHA to learn more about the changing legal needs of people living with blood-borne viruses in Australia.

Hepatitis free by 2030: Elimination is a human right: Burnet Institute

A rights-based approach was the recurring theme of Burnet Institute’s World Hepatitis Day webinar ‘Hep Free by 2030: Elimination is a human right’ held on Monday, 25 July 2022.

The event brought together experts and peers from Burnet, Hepatitis SA, La Trobe University, the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health, Queensland Injectors Health Network and Harm Reduction Victoria to discuss what a rights-based approach involves, how it’s helping in our efforts to eliminate hepatitis C and the ‘It’s Your Right’ public health campaign.

Hepatitis B and hepatitis C: New contributions from social research

Seminar presented by Loren Brener, Timothy Broady, Carla Treloar, Jake Rance and chaired by Joanne Bryant for the UNSW Centre for Social Research in Health on 26 July 2022.

World Hepatitis Day 2022 - Mothers & babies can’t wait – fighting mother-to-child transmission

This discussion launched the WHA's whitepaper on PMTCT which outlines the human impact of mother-to-child transmission and includes policy recommendations.

Chair: Dr Su Wang, Medical Director, Center for Asian Health & Viral Hepatitis Programs at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center-RWJBarnabas Health, Past-President World Hepatitis Alliance

Panellists: -Dr Olufunmilayo Lesi, Viral Hepatitis Team Lead, Global HIV, Hepatitis and STIs Programmes World Health Organization -Dr Giuseppe Indolfi, Professor of paediatrics, University of Florence -Nafisa Yussf, Social Researcher and Project Manager at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis, The Peter Doherty Institute -Bisi Bright, Consultant Clinical Pharmacist, Lecturer and Public Health Manager; Vice Chairman and CEO of LiveWell Initiative -Marinela Debu, President of the Romanian Liver Patients Association (APAH-RO), advocates for patients' rights, and mother of two.

Strategies to find, test, and treat people living with hep C in Australia

For World Hepatitis Day, this special event included presentations from the Kirby Institute; Hepatitis Australia; Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM); and Burnet Institute on efforts to help find, test, and treat people living with hepatitis C in Australia. The seminar included a panel discussion on the key requirements that are needed to facilitate hepatitis C elimination as we approach 2030.

LiverBetterLife Riverland Roadshow

Hepatitis SA's LiverBetterLife Riverland Roadshow is a campaign pushing for micro-elimination of hepatitis C in the Riverland region. The campaign includes GP and pharmacist education and a series of testing clinics in local pharmacies close to local communities.

Hepatitis C Rapid Testing Demo

Hepatitis SA's demo video shows the testing process including pre-counselling and the actual testing process.

Looking after your liver with Jonty Bush - MP for Cooper

Recently Hepatitis Queensland paid a visit to Jonty Bush to talk all things liver health and hepatitis. Jonty had her liver scanned by our Outreach nurse Jeanette. Watch the video to find out the results!

For World Hepatitis Day 2021 Australia adopted the global theme of Hep Can’t Wait! In this article we highlight some of the activities that took place in Australia and through our global partners.

World Hepatitis Day is held on 28 July each year and is an international event observed by the United Nations and one of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) seven officially mandated global public health days. World Hepatitis Day is an opportunity to step up national and international efforts on addressing hepatitis. It helps encourage engagement and action by individuals, partners and the public and to highlight the need for a greater global response to hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

To recognise World Hepatitis Day 2021, Hepatitis Australia collaborated with many Australian organisations, research institutes and professional bodies to spread the word that with an estimated 340,000 people in Australia living with hepatitis B and hepatitis C – even in the current COVID-19 crisis – Australia can’t wait to eliminate hepatitis.

A series of in-person and digital events took place around Australia, as well as some international webinars and Asia-Pacific regional events. Some of those events are now available on-demand.

With the impacts of COVID-19 ongoing, social media has been important in raising the profile of World Hepatitis Day. There were more than 450 tweets using the hashtags #WorldHepatitisDay or #HepCantWait from Australian Twitter accounts, and more than 1,300 visitors to the Australian World Hepatitis Day website this year. 

Below are some highlights from World Hepatitis Day 2021 but events to commemorate World Hepatitis Day keep going through August. Visit the World Hepatitis Day website to find out how you can continue to get involved.

Australia’s Minister for Health, Hon Greg Hunt MP shared an inspiring World Hepatitis Day Message with the community.

Hepatitis Australia launched a World Hepatitis Day Fact Sheet which features the latest stats on hepatitis B and hepatitis C, and vital steps for Australia to eliminate hepatitis.

The Burnet Institute shared a rich lineup of presenters to explore new arenas in eliminating viral hepatitis at their World Hepatitis Day Symposium 2021

Doherty Institute researcher and World Hepatitis Alliance Board Member, Lien Tran explained why Hep Can’t Wait!

Hepatitis Queensland organised 27 landmarks across Queensland to be lit up green for a week to raise awareness of liver disease and World Hepatitis Day! Green is the colour of the global #NOhep initiative to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030.

Hepatitis ACT celebrated 25 years by unveiling its new mural at a community event on World Hepatitis Day 2021