Assessing The National Burden Of Hepatitis B, Australia

Main Category: Liver Disease / Hepatitis
Article Date: 23 Oct 2009 - 9:00 PDT

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Two academics from The Australian National University will warn that the number of people with chronic hepatitis B in Australia is set to increase markedly within the next ten years at a seminar releasing new today.

Professor Jim Butler and Dr Rosemary Korda will discuss the current economic and epidemiological burden of chronic hepatitis B infection (HBV), and the projected mortality, morbidity and direct economic costs to Australia.

In addition they will argue that a national strategy involving a coordinated approach to screening, vaccination, and treatment of the disease is warranted.

"There appears to be a lack of appreciation of the potential benefits of identifying and treating those infected," said Dr Korda". "Although Australia has adopted universal hepatitis B vaccination for infants, there are many people already infected for whom vaccination offers no benefit."

"Immigration patterns, the ageing of the infected pool of individuals and the small number of people receive receiving HBV drug therapy together imply that the long-term pathology of HBV infection can be expected to become increasingly evident over the next decade."

The seminar, to be held at ANU, coincides with the release of a report co-authored by the pair and two clinicians, The Impact of Chronic Hepatitis B in Australia: Projecting Mortality, Morbidity and Economic Impact, recently released by the Australian Centre for Economic Research on Health (ACERH).

The report not only assesses the cost-effectiveness of enhancing the management and treatment of HBV infection but argues that investment in the developing National Strategy for Hepatitis B is economically justified and pressing.

Professor Stephen Locarnini, chair of the Steering Committee for the ACERH study, said that he welcomed the publication of the report, which was made possible through an unrestricted grant made by Bristol-Myers Squibb to the Advancing the Clinical Treatment of Hepatitis B Virus (ACT-HBV) Australia Initiative.

"It provides a solid economic case for the work already underway on designing a national strategy for Hepatitis B in Australia."

What Seminar- The Impact of chronic hepatitis B in Australia
When 11am Friday 23 October 2009
Where Bob Douglas Lecture Theatre, Building 62a, Eggleston Road, ANU

Source
The Australian National University