Sunday, 28 July 2024 is World Hepatitis Day. This is a day when we come together worldwide to share the message It’s time for action: hepatitis C and liver health remain important issues for our community and acting now is vital.
In short – don’t put it off!
- Do you know your hep C status? Find out if you don’t know
- Hep C can be cured. Treatment is simple
- Do you need ongoing liver health monitoring? Ask your doctor.
- A healthy liver is vital to us all. Take steps to look after your liver health.
Hep C and bleeding disorders
In Australia many people with bleeding disorders acquired hepatitis C from treatment with blood products before 1993. Several safety measures were introduced by 1993 and the risk of hep C or HIV from plasma-derived clotting factor products in Australia is now considered to be extremely low. But many people in our community live on with the consequences of those early infections.
Current hep C treatments are now much easier than the early interferon treatments – a once-daily tablet, with few if any side-effects and very high cure rates. Many Australians with bleeding disorders and hep C have now had treatment and been cured – but some need ongoing care for their liver health.
Who is at risk?
It’s estimated that 1 in 5 Australians do not know they have hep C.
For some people with bleeding disorders, it has been a surprise to find out they were exposed to hepatitis C, especially if they only had one or two treatments over their lifetime.
This includes:
- women who carry the gene
- women and men with mild haemophilia or VWD
But if you ever had a blood product before 1993, including blood transfusions and plasma-derived clotting factor concentrates, you could be at risk of hepatitis C.
You may have been wondering about testing and not got around to it yet. But now is the time to talk to your doctor about a hep C test – and have treatment to be cured, if you do have hep C!
Post cure liver health
Were you cured of hep C? Has your liver recovered?
You might think it’s all OK, but it’s easy to miss symptoms of liver disease. It’s a temptation to put your liver health out of your mind once you are cured. But if you don’t know the state of your liver health when you were cured, find out today. Ignoring your liver health can have serious consequences.
Take the time today to contact your hepatitis doctor or your GP to check your liver test results and find out if you need ongoing follow-up with a liver specialist.
Remember: If you had cirrhosis or extensive scarring before being cured of hep C, you will still need to have a liver ultrasound scan every 6 months long-term.
And it is important to keep your ultrasound appointments or reschedule if you can’t make it.
How can you keep your liver in good shape?
A healthy liver is important to us all. Your liver has a lot of different jobs to do to keep your body working well.
Click here for 5 ways to keep your liver healthy.
Hep C and gene therapy
Interested in gene therapy for haemophilia? Are you wondering if you are eligible if you have had hep C and been cured? We asked the medical experts – read their answer here.
Personal stories
Several community members have generously shared their personal stories about their hep C journey, clearing hep C and the importance of managing your liver health. Read their stories
You can find more information on the HFA World Hepatitis Day page.
