All Articles

Point-of-Care Testing: The future of hep B care

A clinical trial led by the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney has found that point-of-care testing for hepatitis B DNA is as effective as traditional laboratory testing, paving the way…

29 April 2026 | Issue 109

Hepatitis B in Europe: A Persistent Problem

Chronic hepatitis B is substantially prevalent across Europe, affecting an estimated 0.7 per cent of the population in the region in 2022, according to a new study published in Eurosurveillance. While this…

24 April 2026

baby is sitting in a crib and coughing

Child vaccination rates falling fast, with some regions barely reaching 80 per cent

By Peter Breadon, Grattan Institute and Mia Jessurun, Grattan Institute Child vaccination has been one of Australia’s biggest success stories. Before the COVID pandemic, we hit the national target of…

21 April 2026

Systemic Failure: How Prisons Fail People who Inject Drugs and the Community

One in nine people in prisons globally have a history of injecting drug use and their risk of HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis is up to 45 times higher than…

16 April 2026 | Issue 109

Stopping Hepatitis E

A drug that is already in clinical trials against the hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been shown to be excellent at also preventing the hepatitis E virus (HEV) from replicating.…

8 April 2026

New Australian Hepatitis Strategies Released

Australia has taken a significant step in its commitment to ending hepatitis B and C as public health challenges, with the launch of the Fourth National Hepatitis B Strategy 2025–2030 and…

2 April 2026 | Issue 109

10 Years of DAAs

Ten years ago, on 1 March 2016, Australia became the first country to publicly subsidise new direct-acting antiviral (DAA) hepatitis C treatments for the entire population, no matter their condition…

24 March 2026 | Issue 109

Can I donate blood if I have hepatitis?

This article was originally published by Hepatitis NSW and is republished with permission. If you’ve ever had hepatitis, it might mean you can’t donate blood. Your eligibility to donate blood…

19 March 2026

Can the Hepatitis B Virus’s Genetic Diversity Predict its Curability?

Scientists at Melbourne’s Doherty Institute are asking, “What if there was a way to predict which patients are more likely to achieve functional cure of chronic hepatitis B virus infection?”…

13 March 2026

Wait! It’s here…

Check out Hepatitis SA's collection of engaging, easy to understand resources about children and hepatitis... including some by and for children.

6 March 2026 | Issue 108

How Hepatitis B Became a Political Football

The illness and the damage in lives that will come from abandoning the hepatitis B birth dose vaccine is hard to overstate.

6 March 2026 | Issue 109

Reducing Hep B, Hep C & HIV in Regional SA

Hepatitis SA is stepping up efforts to raise awareness about hepatitis B and hepatitis C, in regional South Australia. The SA component of the national HepLink program is connecting with…

4 March 2026 | Issue 108

In Our Library: February 2026 Highlights

New additions to our Library: The healthy liver pantry, fatty liver disease, hepatitis and mental health, and more...

4 March 2026

In Our Library: Eating Well with Hepatitis

A healthy diet is a big part of living well with hepatitis. Good nutrition supports your liver to do all of its many jobs and avoiding too much fatty, sugary…

26 February 2026 | Issue 108

Hepatitis D Basics

There are five main hepatitis viruses, helpfully named A, B, C, D and E. The hepatitis D virus (HDV)—sometimes known as hepatitis delta—is relatively little-known because it can only live…

26 February 2026 | Issue 108

Lisa Carter: Busting Myths and Building Hope

Hepatitis SA’s remarkable outreach coordinator, Lisa Carter, is being celebrated as an Unsung Hero of Hep in the February newsletter of the national hepatitis C point-of-care testing program. Congratulations Lisa—We…

23 February 2026 | Issue 108

National Apology Day 2026

The Federal Government has committed $1.8 million over three years (starting in 2026) to continue the Hepatitis B Partnership Approach to Sustainably Eliminating Chronic Hepatitis B Project in the NT.…

13 February 2026

Intertwined: Harm Reduction and BBV Prevention

Harm reduction and blood-borne virus prevention are inextricably linked. We can’t have the second without the first. To that end, Hepatitis SA – South Australia’s hepatitis peak body – has…

12 February 2026 | Issue 108

Closing the Gap in Practice

A widely-acclaimed community-led Northern Territory health program which closed the gap for hepatitis B is calling for ongoing support for screening, treatment pathways and workforce capacity building, so that hard-earned…

5 February 2026 | Issue 108

Moving On to New Challenges

Jeff Stewart’s career as a nurse has never lacked variety, colour and challenge. He had worked with MSF in South Sudan, Rwanda and Liberia, with Aboriginal health services in Yalata,…

28 January 2026 | Issue 108

Could New Hepatitis B Drug – Bepirovirsen – Offer a Higher Functional Cure Rate?

At the start of January, pharmaceutical company GSK announced positive results from its two phase-III trials for bepirovirsen, a potential first-in-class treatment for chronic hepatitis B. They claim that bepirovirsen…

21 January 2026

‘Shared decision-making’ for childhood vaccines sounds empowering – but it may mean less access for families already stretched thin

Shared decision-making is an approach doctors use when there’s genuinely more than one reasonable choice and the answer depends on what matters most and feels right to the patient.

16 January 2026

Why the Hepatitis B Birth Dose Matters

Hepatitis B vaccination within the first 24 hours has been part of Australia’s National Immunisation Program for 25 years, helping to reduce hepatitis B in the Australian population.

18 December 2025 | Issue 108

Curing Hepatitis C Reduces Strain on the Immune System of HIV Patients

Fighting two infections at once puts an extra-heavy burden on the immune system. In Australia for example, a number of older people with haemophilia live with both hepatitis C and…

18 December 2025