EC Australia: Eliminate Hepatitis C Australia Partnership Aboriginal Health Strategy

Dates: 2018-2022

The Eliminate hepatitis C Australia Partnership (EC Australia) was created in 2018 to bring together researchers, implementation scientists, government, health services and community organisations to ensure the whole of Australia sustains high numbers of people accessing hepatitis C treatment.

It is a three-year partnership project, funded by the Paul Ramsay Foundation and coordinated by Burnet Institute.

EC Australia’s goals are to:

• Ensure that 15,000 Australians with chronic hepatitis C are treated and cured of their infection annually
• Ensure that people identified with cirrhosis related to hepatitis C infection are treated and cured, and regularly reviewed to monitor for liver cancer
• Establish a national collaborative framework to facilitate a coordinated response to the elimination of hepatitis C as a public health threat from Australia by 2030.

In the first two years of operating, EC Australia has:

• Conducted a national state-by-state consultation to work with key organisations and state-run viral hepatitis committees to understand the current gaps in funding and workforce capacity across all jurisdictions
• Distributed funding for 18 workforce development projects to increase resourcing for the hepatitis C elimination effort
• Published Australia’s first national report on progress towards the elimination of hepatitis C virus in Australia, in partnership with the Kirby Institute. This report will be published annually to track Australia’s progress towards hepatitis C elimination targets.

Funding

Paul Ramsay Foundation