Rapid hepatitis testing to be rolled out at dozens of sites nationwide

A new form of rapid test for hepatitis C will be rolled out at dozens of drug treatment clinics, prisons and needle exchange services across Australia to help eliminate a disease that kills 740 people every year.

The point-of-care program uses a test that requires only a few drops of blood from a finger prick in contrast to older methods that required blood to be drawn with a syringe across multiple visits to testing sites that might not be located close by.

The test requires pinpricking the finger for blood in a similar way to how diabetes can be monitored. Credit:Matthew Bouwmeester

Because many people with hepatitis C, which causes long-term liver disease that can go unnoticed for years, have a history of drug use, testing that delivers results within an hour is seen as a “massive step” by researchers involved. It allows treatment to start on the spot, avoids the need for blood to be drawn from damaged veins, and can be deployed at sites where people who use drugs are likely to be.

A $6.5 million commitment from the federal government will let the Kirby Institute at the University of NSW and the International Centre for Point-of-Care Testing at Flinders University set up the testing at 65 sites. Locations are still to be determined, but tests are expected to start being administered in October.

“It’s such an exciting opportunity to eliminate a chronic disease in Australia,” said Jason Grebely, head of the hepatitis C and drug use group at the Kirby Institute. There are already treatments that are 95 per cent effective against hepatitis C and Professor Grebely believes the new program will be a major step to get the medicine to people who need it.

The virus is no small challenge: an estimated 129,640 people were living with chronic hepatitis C in Australia at the end of 2018.

“Australia is committed to achieving the global goal of reducing the burden of viral hepatitis and eliminating viral hepatitis as a major public health threat by 2030,” Health Minister Greg Hunt said in a statement, referring to a set of World Health Organisation targets. “Indeed, we could be one of the first countries in the world to reach that goal.

Professor Grebely also said other nations were looking to learn from Australia’s work to eliminate hepatitis C.

About 30 per cent of people with hepatitis clear the condition spontaneously after a few months while it goes undetected in some for years. Others live with agonising symptoms.

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Nick Bonyhady is industrial relations reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based between Sydney and Parliament House in Canberra.Connect via Twitter or email.

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