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The report of the
National Hepatitis B Needs Assessment 2007 undertaken by the Australian Research
Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University (Melbourne) has
recently been completed.
The National
Hepatitis B Needs Assessment is a world first in identifying the needs of people
who are chronically infected with the virus. The assessment is unique in
its capturing the views of health professionals and their perspectives on how
the Australian health care system can best meet the needs of people with
hepatitis B.
Up to 160,000
people in Australia are chronically infected with hepatitis B and rates of
hepatitis B-related liver cancer in Australia are increasing despite
improvements in antiviral therapy. The hepatitis B virus is difficult to
eradicate and only a small proportion of people with chronic hepatitis B receive
treatment. The needs assessment found:
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People
with hepatitis B often report their diagnosis as shocking with little
understanding of how infection occurred or the implications of being
infected.
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People
with hepatitis B report no pre or post test discussion and little or no
information provided at the point of diagnosis. This fundamentally affects how
people with hepatitis B understand and respond to their
infection.
-
There
were indications that people with hepatitis B were ill-informed about their
infection and that decisions made about their health were based on incorrect
information.
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Cultural understandings of hepatitis B inform how people
interpret being infected with hepatitis B.
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Communities play an important role in providing information
about hepatitis B.
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Communities most affected by chronic hepatitis B in
Australia are often affected by the virus in a context of highly disrupted
lives; where access to health care services may have been non-existent, and
where hepatitis B is not seen as a priority.
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Few
resources are available for people with hepatitis B or their families that
would assist in understanding their infection and how promote their health and
well-being.
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Significant gaps in the evidence quantifying the burden of
hepatitis B on individuals, the health care system and the community as
whole.
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Most
people with chronic hepatitis B in Australia were infected at birth or in
childhood. Hepatitis B is often framed as a sexually transmitted infection
among medical and public health sectors. This inconsistency has significant
implications for its treatment and monitoring.
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Indigenous Australians constitute an estimated 16% of
people in Australia who live with chronic hepatitis B; this is in spite of
these communities representing 2% of the Australian population. Few of
the liver specialists interviewed as part of the assessment reported treating
Indigenous people and activity needs to occur to increase access to
treatment.
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General practitioners surveyed in this assessment noted a
need to strengthen their professional skills in managing patients with
hepatitis B.
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Workforce development was identified as necessary for each
of the professional sectors interviewed as part of this assessment. The issues
to be addressed are broad and range from the provision of basic information
about hepatitis B through to the availability of treatment and cultural
competency.
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There
has been little proactive attention by government or the pharmaceutical
industry on helping medical and public health professions adapt to the
changing hepatitis B environment.
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Government resources at national, state and territory
levels focus on hepatitis B prevention through the immunisation program. The
immunisation program is often poorly promoted or implemented within
communities most at risk of current infection.
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There
has been no comprehensive response to addressing the needs of people living
with hepatitis B in Australia.
Please contact Jack
Wallace on j.wallace@latrobe.edu.au if
you seek any additional information about the report or its
findings.
Regards
Paul
Paul
Harvey
Coordinator – Information & Resources
Hepatitis C Council of
NSW
Inc
PO
Box 432, Darlinghurst NSW 1300 Sydney
Phone +61 2 9332 1853
Fax +61 2
9332 1730
www.hepatitisc.org.au
paulh@hepatitisc.org.au
P
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