Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Hepatitis B update: enabling progress towards elimination SUMMARY Hepatitis B is a common vaccine-preventable and treatable condition.Chronic hepatitis B is often asymptomatic and can be missed if the diagnosis is not actively considered.The World Health Organization and the Australian Government have committed to eliminate hepatitis B as a public health threat by 2030.The tools required to achieve this are available: an effective vaccine, accurate blood tests for diagnosis and monitoring, effective antiviral treatments and access to ultrasound to enable early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.Risk-based testing approaches are not effective enough to enable Australia to achieve elimination targets; hence, the Fourth National Hepatitis B Strategy 2025-2030 calls for population-wide testing to identify hepatitis B status.Chronic hepatitis B is a lifelong disease that requires long-term monitoring and follow-up irrespective of the stage of disease or whether an individual is taking antiviral treatment.Most healthcare for people living with chronic hepatitis B can be provided in primary care.All medical practitioners and authorised nurse practitioners can now prescribe antiviral therapy for hepatitis B; additional accreditation is no longer required.Holistic care includes the provision of resources in a person's preferred language, peer and cultural support workers, access to a long-term effective model of care and appropriate monitoring.Continuity of healthcare providers is desirable and an important enabler of sustained engagement in care.Australia's ongoing commitment to this elimination goal is reiterated in the Fourth National Hepatitis B Strategy 2025-2030.6 Despite having all the necessary tools to eliminate hepatitis B as a public health threat, it is estimated that in Australia, 1 in 3 of the 227,000 people living with CHB are not aware of their diagnosis and only 1 in 4 are receiving guideline-based care.In addition, only small increases in the uptake of antiviral treatment have been seen over the past decade.2 Many barriers to accessing testing, diagnosis and care exist, including (but not limited to) the asymptomatic nature of CHB, a lack of knowledge and understanding of risk factors, stigma, remoteness, the logistics of accessing care through tertiary services, English commonly not being a patient's first language and systematic consequences of a CHB diagnosis, particularly in the immigration system.Elimination requires a paradigm shift in the care provided to people living with CHB to increase:• hepatitis B testing through population-wide universal offer of testing, enabling earlier diagnosis
Source: Australian Prescriber
Authors: Jane Davies, Marilou Capati, Nicole Allard
Language: English
Topic: Hepatitis B Virus Studies
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7219719028