Goals and targets
The goals of this strategy are to:
- reduce hepatitis C infections in NSW; and
- improve the health outcomes of people living with hepatitis C in NSW.
To achieve our goals, our program efforts will focus on:
- reducing sharing of injecting equipment among people who inject drugs by 25%; and
- increasing the number of people accessing hepatitis C treatment in NSW by 100%.
Priority populations
This strategy focuses our efforts on working with those groups of people that are most at risk or most affected by hepatitis C. These ‘priority populations’ are:
- People living with hepatitis C;
- People who inject drugs, especially new initiates;
- People in or recently in custodial settings;
- Aboriginal people;
- People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; and
- Young people who are at risk of injecting.
New medicines for hepatitis C treatment
On 1 March 2016 four direct acting antiviral medicines for the treatment of hepatitis C were listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). These new and effective medicines have a cure rate of greater than 90 per cent. Treatment with the medicines is shorter in duration, less complex and much better tolerated than interferon treatments.
More Information
Hepatitis C Fact Sheet
Hepatitis C - Live Hep C Free
Hepatitis C - Multilingual resources
Hepatitis C Snapshot (2015)
Further information regarding the medicines and prescriber eligibility is available from The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
