Northern territory leading the nation in hepatitis B care

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Hepatitis B infection and mortality rates in the Northern Territory used to be the worst in the nation primarily in remote Aboriginal communities, which have limited access to healthcare. Infection can lead to severe liver damage and even cancer. But in recent years, the tide has turned with the NT now leading the nation in Hepatitis B care.

Transcript

00:00The Northern Territory's hepatitis rates appear grim, with the diagnosis of the viral infection

00:09skyrocketing in recent years.

00:12But healthcare professionals say it's not all bad news, and the increased numbers are

00:17a sign access to healthcare is improving.

00:24Most people in the NT who have hepatitis B have had it their whole lives.

00:29With hepatitis B, it's usually, you know, it's babies, it's people that are either contracted

00:34from birth or at a really young age that are most likely to develop chronic hepatitis B,

00:38which requires lifelong treatment.

00:40Fifteen years ago, the mortality rate in the NT was the highest in the country, mostly

00:46in indigenous remote communities.

00:48Especially here, Elkau and other parts of the community, it's a vulnerable death, a lot

00:56of them, and we are doing ceremony, after ceremony, after ceremony.

01:04As you can imagine, if you are being told that you have a chronic health condition that you're

01:08going to have for your whole life, you need to have care every six months, you know, you

01:12have a risk of liver cancer if you don't look after your liver well and don't engage with

01:17the treatment to prevent that, that can be really scary, and that can be even more scary

01:24if it's explained to you in a language that's not your first language.

01:27The Northern Territory has had the biggest decrease of hepatitis B mortality rates across

01:33jurisdictions since 2011, and we're the only state or territory in the country to have closed

01:40the gap in hepatitis B care.

01:43Due primarily to the Hep B PASS program, which brings healthcare into communities with elders

01:48and in language.

01:50We're achieving the national strategy targets, so that means that we have 99% of people diagnosed,

02:02so we know that they have chronic hepatitis B, and the national target's 80%.

02:06health that cares about the whole community.

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