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 or location.

The success of this has been dramatic:

• Hepatitis C in Australia has decreased by 58% since 2015
• More than 100,000 Australians have received curative hepatitis C treatments.
• Current hepatitis C infection among people attending needle and syringe programs has declined from 51% in 2015 to 12% in 2023

Announcing the $1 billion funding just before Christmas in 2015, the then federal health minister for Health Sussan Ley described the listing of the drugs on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) as a “watershed moment”.  Continue reading.