Hepatitis B and C are the leading causes of liver disease and liver cancer in Australia. Over 400,000 people are affected with hepatitis around Australia and in 2018, there were 226,612 people documented as having chronic hepatitis B and 182,144 with chronic hepatitis C.

Research undertaken by Hepatitis Australia¹ showed the Chinese community in Australia has a high prevalence of hepatitis C while the National Hepatitis B Strategy identified that 61% of people living with hepatitis B came from countries with an intermediate or high prevalence of hepatitis B; mainly Asia Pacific region including China².

In China, hepatitis B and C are acknowledged as major public health problems especially in people aged 20 years and over³.

Significantly, many people are unaware they may have hepatitis B or C as symptoms may not be obvious or may be overlooked. If you constantly feel tired, have aches and pains, abdominal pain or the whites of eyes look yellow (jaundice), speak to your doctor about getting tested for hepatitis.

English Factsheet 

For more information about hepatitis B and C call 1800 437 222. For language assistance call TIS on 131 450.

---

1 Hepatitis Australia Reaching Out Report
2 Dept Health, 3rd National Hepatitis B Strategy 2018 – 2020
3 BMC Infectious Diseases Hepatitis B Infection on the General Population of China: A systematic Review and Meta-=Analysis 2019
https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-019-4428-y

This CALD Media Project was made possible with the support of unrestricted educational grants from AbbVie Australia and GlaxoSmithKline in compliance with Medicines Australia requirements.

All content was developed by Hepatitis Australia in consultation with a cultural consultant.

Last updated 3 March 2020