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The over‑50s are most likely to overdose. Here’s how older people use drugs

Latest figures from the Pennington Institute show that older Australians make up the highest proportion of unintentional overdose deaths.

Australia’s Deadliest Year of Drug Overdoses

New data from the Penington Institute has revealed that 2,272 Australians died of drug-induced deaths in 2023, with the rate of unintentional overdoses increasing to nearly 80 per cent. On average,…

4474 Lives Saved, But Targets Will Not Be Met

Powerful new data from the 2024 annual report for Measuring the progress towards the targets of the National Hepatitis B Strategy (launched by The Peter Doherty Institute at the end…

PIEDs and Transmission Risks

The use of performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) is growing. While reliable data about the number of people in the community who use them is hard to find, PIED…

Lung Cancer Screening Saves Lives

Hepatitis SA’s harm reduction peer services is encouraging clients and community members to consider lung cancer screening with the Australian government’s free lung screen program. Screening is a way of…

Bingo with a Difference

West Torrens residents can’t wait for more Hepatitis SA learning sessions after the resoundingly successful Liver Health bingo night hosted by the City of West Torrens as part of its…

Everyone, Everywhere, Right Now!

The World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) has declared hepatitis a global health emergency. “Hepatitis is an epidemic out of control,” said WHA Chief Executive Officer, Cary James. “It is the only…

Is it Safe to Ask AI for Health Advice?

People are increasingly relying on “AI” sources for health information, but is it safe to do so? Worldwide, one in four queries to ChatGPT are health related, while almost one…

Elimination –Urgent Global Action Needed

Urgent scale-up of global action is needed if the world is to meet its target of eliminating viral hepatitis by 2030. This was the clear message from the World Health…

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…
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…

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…

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…

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