Skip to main content

Quality of life

Nearly 1,000 Australians are estimated to have died in 2023 due to hepatitis B and hepatitis C.[3][4] Deaths among people living with and cured of hepatitis C have declined 26% from 720 in 2015 to 530 in 2023.[4] Conversely, deaths among people with hepatitis B increased 10.6% in the same period, from 416 in 2017 to 460 in 2023.

Morbidity is also high. Of the 73,980 people living with hepatitis C at the start of 2023, 11,650 (15.7%) were experiencing serious morbidity (cirrhosis, decompensated cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma).[4] Among people living with hepatitis C and those cured, hepatitis C-related cirrhosis increased by 47% from 2015 to 2023.[4] Among the 219,800 people living with hepatitis B in 2023, an estimated 11,430 (5.2%) had cirrhosis and 1.0% (2,198) had advanced liver disease (decompensated cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma).[3] Whilst hepatitis C-related hepatocellular carcinoma is commonly associated with cirrhosis, hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma manifests in the absence of cirrhosis in 30% of cases.[7]

 

Hepatitis Australia's contribution

  • Support members, e.g. with nationally developed and locally implemented education initiatives
  • Develop new service approaches, e.g. by designing and promoting new linkages between community support and clinical care
  • Identify best practice, e.g. for members’ support of people needing regular liver monitoring
  • Explore new opportunities, e.g. the contribution members can make to public health responses to hepatitis A and hepatitis E.

 

[3] A. Nguyen, N. Romero, J. MacLachlan and B. Cowie, Surveillance for hepatitis B indicators national report 2023: Tracking Australia’s progress towards hepatitis B elimination, WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis, The Doherty Institute, Melbourne, 2025.

[4] J. King, J. Kwon, H. McManus, R. Gray and S. McGregor, HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia: Annual surveillance report 2024, Sydney, 2024.

[7] M. Aryan, T. Ruli and M. Shoreibah, HCC in patients without cirrhosis: A review, Clin Liver Dis., vol. 23, p. e0224, 2024.

 

Implementation plan

Priority How we will achieve it When we will do it
Education
  • Work with members to ensure the availability of information for people with hepatitis B and affected by hepatitis C about their legal rights and responsibilities and avenues for legal assistance on migration and other matters.
 
  • Partner with members to promote organ and tissue donation.
Service planning
  • Commission an evidence review of the contribution of lifestyle factors, co-infection and other factors to the risk of liver disease among people with hepatitis B (including hepatitis D coinfection) and hepatitis C and assess the evidence for interventions that prevent or delay disease progression.
 
  • Develop with members a framework and strategy setting out the contribution of community hepatitis organisations in reducing morbidity and mortality due to hepatitis B (including hepatitis D coinfection) and hepatitis C and proposing investment priorities
 
  • Work with members and researchers to explore the role of peer support in reducing morbidity and mortality and improving quality of life for people with liver disease and cancer due to hepatitis B (including hepatitis D coinfection) and hepatitis C.
 
  • Explore through BBVSS and with members the contribution community hepatitis organisations can make to Public Health Unit activity on hepatitis A and hepatitis E
 
  • Support members with training that provides foundational knowledge in hepatitis A and hepatitis E, noting that people accessing HepLink and other member services may be seeking information on these conditions
 
  • Advocate for improved surveillance on testing for hepatitis D in people newly diagnosed with hepatitis B and those with advancing liver disease.
Peer and other
support
  • Explore with members peer and other support options for people with hepatitis B, people coinfected with hepatitis D and people with hepatitis C who are undergoing sixmonthly liver cancer surveillance
 
  • Develop with members approaches that support people with hepatitis C who were not cured following treatment and who require regular liver health monitoring
 
  • Strengthen partnerships with and champion the work of researchers whose work contributes to the search for a cure for hepatitis B, recognising this as an essential goal for all people living with hepatitis B.