Barwon Health works with Outpost to target undiagnosed hepatitis C

A team of health professionals has taken hepatitis C testing directly to vulnerable people at Geelong homelessness service The Outpost, as part of an innovative four-week pilot program aimed at reaching those who struggle to access traditional healthcare.

Outpost volunteer Nick Lynch with Assoc Prof Amanda Wade and Barwon Health Harm Reduction co-ordinator Craig Harvey. Assoc Prof Wade and Mr Lynch have been working at the Outpost to identify people with hep C and direct them to the right help. Picture: Alan Barber

Barwon Health is using a new outreach program to try to identify people living with undiagnosed hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C is a bloodborne virus that affects the liver and can cause chronic liver disease and cancer.

It is spread when a person’s blood comes in contact with infected blood and is common among intravenous drug users.

A team of health professionals from the Barwon South West Public Health Unit visited Geelong homelessness service the Outpost over a four-week period to speak to vulnerable people about the detection of hepatitis C, provide tests if needed and to connect people to services.

The unit’s bloodborne viruses medical lead, Associate Professor Amanda Wade, said hepatitis C could cause lifelong harm – but said it was now easily treatable by a course of tablets.

“Many people would know that hep C treatment before 2016 was very unpleasant and not very efficient,” she said.

“In 2016 and henceforth, hep C treatment is highly effective, well tolerated and very efficient and we want to be able to offer that treatment to everybody so they can realise benefits.”

Prof Wade said “the majority” of hepatitis C in Australia occurred in people with a history of injecting drugs.

She said Barwon Health hoped its outreach program could contribute to the national goal of eliminating the virus by 2030.

Harm reduction co-ordinator Craig Harvey said the pilot program allowed health professionals to direct people to other services like the region’s CBD syringe program and overdose education.

Outpost volunteer Nick Lynch with Assoc Prof Amanda Wade and Barwon Health Harm Reduction co-ordinator Craig Harvey. Assoc Prof Wade and Mr Lynch have been working at the Outpost to identify people with hep C. Picture: Alan Barber

“The community that finds services more difficult to engage with is people who inject drugs … due to the entrenched stigma that people have,” Mr Harvey said.

Outpost director Amy Flint said attendees had benefited from Barwon Health’s onsite presence.

“This makes a significant difference to people who may have various concerns accessing traditional healthcare settings and processes,” Ms Flint said.

Ms Flint said people experiencing homelessness faced many barriers accessing health services and often had longstanding distrust in the system.

“Many guests of the Outpost are sleeping rough and demonstrate strength in getting by each day,” she said.

“Attending health care appointments can be confronting, deprioritised to survival or people simply don’t have the tools like a mobile phone or adequate facilities to prepare.

“If an appointment is missed, people are then simply sent to the bottom of the list and health conditions escalate; in many cases beyond repair which in turn creates distrust in the system.”

Research from the Burnet Institute estimated that 68,890 people were living with hepatitis C, while 105,940 people had been treated for hepatitis C between 2016 and 2023.

According to state government infectious disease data, there have been 45 reports of hepatitis C in the Barwon South West region this year – with 34 among men and 11 among women.

Last year the region recorded 77 cases, 82 were recorded in 2023 and 113 in 2022.

Originally published as Barwon Health works with Outpost to target undiagnosed hepatitis C