00:00So I think at the moment we're estimating there's probably over 300,000 people in Australia
00:07living with hepatitis, and that's either hepatitis B or hepatitis C. And again, so we'll be saying
00:14just over 6,000 in the Northern Territory. But it's something we really don't know. It's
00:18always, it's kind of, obviously we know people have had confirmed testing, but we don't know
00:22who else out there that hasn't been tested. So we're really keen for everyone to find
00:27out their hepatitis status. Yeah. So you're saying that actual number
00:30could be a lot higher. That's why free testing is so important. You know, what sort of response
00:36have you had? I mean, how busy do you expect it to be over this week?
00:40Oh, I'd love it to be super busy, but we've kind of been working away in this space for
00:45many years now. We've, down in the Northern Territory AIDS and Hepatitis Council in Darwin,
00:51we've been running a clinic every Thursday for nearly four years for people to come and
00:57access hepatitis testing for free. But yeah, it'd be nice to have a little, have a little
01:02boom this week, being World Hepatitis Day and week, we'll drag it out.
01:07Yeah. And as you said, there are different types of hepatitis. What is of concern here
01:13in Australia and specifically where you are in the NT?
01:17I guess, nationally, I guess our biggest hepatitis concerns are with hepatitis B and hepatitis C,
01:24which would also, it's the same in the Northern Territory. And we do tend to have a high prevalence
01:30of hepatitis C specifically in our First Nations people in the Northern Territory. But again,
01:36we still have, I think, quite high hepatitis C rates per capita. Then we see nationally as well. So
01:44yeah, we really need to get onto it.
01:47And what would people be looking out for to bring them to, you know, the free testing that you're
01:51offering or testing in general, or should they just come along anyway?
01:55Oh, absolutely. I think it's just, it's just good to know. It's one of those, it's a cheeky
01:59kind of virus. I think not many people can ever remember when they've acutely caught it. You know,
02:04there can be the symptoms when someone first gets in contact with it and they, you know,
02:08can become quite unwell and have dark urine and even potentially, you know, go the,
02:12a little bit yellow tinge skin, but no one really experiences that or remembers that experience.
02:17It's kind of, it's just, you come in contact with it and then it's pretty much asymptomatic,
02:22which is the tricky thing about it. So people don't know they have it because they feel fine.
02:27Or as time goes on, there's other little things that people, we just don't associate with it,
02:31like brain fogginess and feeling tired or poor appetite and things like that. So these are the
02:38things that we find people report once they've been treated that they, wow, I feel so much better.
02:42I didn't even consider that these were related to the hepatitis. And how is it treated?
02:49So they're different for both. The hepatitis C now, we've got wonderful new treatments that have
02:55been around for nearly a decade now that are really simple direct acting antivirals that can be taken
03:01over two to three months, just, you know, tablets once a day and have really, really high efficacy and
03:07really well tolerated in people. So that's great to have. And for the hepatitis B,
03:14the important thing for people with hepatitis B is just to be engaging in healthcare. It's just
03:18something that needs to be monitored. It's a virus that goes through different stages over time and
03:24not everyone will need medication and treatment for it. That's why we kind of like to monitor people,
03:31you know, every six to 12 months and keep an eye on their blood levels. And certainly if they need
03:35treatment, then we can prescribe medication for them. Of course, it can be prevented through
03:39vaccinations. Are there any concerns in vaccination uptake?
03:43I think we're doing quite well. In the Northern Territory, I think they're saying like 93% of our
03:49babies now are being vaccinated for hepatitis B, which is amazing. That's really great.
03:54And I think the other important thing to remember is for babies that are born to mothers with hepatitis B,
04:00there's an extra hepatitis B vaccine that needs to be given. So it's just, I think, being mindful.
04:07But that's something we need to consider as well as health workers and people working with
04:11mothers with hepatitis B.
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