Hepatitis C treatments must reach vulnerable populations with high infection rates, if the hope of halting and eliminating hepatitis C is to be realised, Health Minister Sussan Ley said.

In a statement marking the listing of new hepatitis C medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), Ms Ley said with the announcement there is great hope Australia can not only halt the spread of this deadly infectious virus, but eliminate it altogether in time.

It’s therefore important we tackle this disease head on, and that includes providing these medicines to all Australians, particularly vulnerable populations where rates of infection are high," she added.

Australians with hepatitis C now have access to publicly-subsidised breakthrough cures that can eliminate the disease within a generation. Concession card holders will pay just $6.20 and general patients $38.30, for a prescription for the treatments.

Minister for Health, Sussan Ley said that when taken as prescribed, the four breakthrough medicines listed today had a cure rate of over 90 per cent and worked faster and with fewer side effects than anything else previously subsidised on the PBS.

Australia is one of the first countries in the world to publicly subsidise these cures for every one of its quarter-of-a-million people living with hepatitis C, no matter what their condition or how they contracted it, Ms Ley said.

“This is a watershed moment in Australian history and we are hoping to eliminate one the great disease challenges facing Australia in the 21st century."

Ms Ley said there were about 700 deaths attributable to chronic Hep C infection each year, with thousands more suffering a variety of serious liver diseases and conditions.

As a result deaths from primary liver cancer, for which untreated Hep C is a major driver, are rising faster than for any other cancer, with Ms Ley describing today’s PBS listings as a “game changer”.

“Essentially one in every 100 Australians has Hep C, with another 10,000 people diagnosed every year, and they come from all walks of life,” Ms Ley said.

Ms Ley said the listing of multiple drug combinations would ensure cures for all types of Hep C were made available to the entire patient population through the PBS from 1 March 2016.

The medicines are: Sofosbuvir with ledipasvir (Harvoni); Sofosbuvir (Sovaldi); Daclatasvir (Daklinza); and Ribavirin (Ibavyr).

Ms Ley said in the majority of cases the medicines would be taken orally, with treatment duration as short as 8 to 12 weeks.