Australia stands at a crossroads familiar to many nations that have glimpsed the possibility of eliminating a disease only to hesitate at the final mile. With tools, treatments, and economic evidence firmly in hand, the country is nonetheless tracking to miss the majority of its 2030 hepatitis elimination targets — a failure that would cost $2.6 billion and, more gravely, continue to claim lives that medicine already knows how to save. The burden falls heaviest on those already carrying the most: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people in custody, and communities long underserved
Australia risks $2.6B cost by missing 2030 hepatitis elimination targets
Nearly 1,000 Australians died from hepatitis B and C in 2023; over 200,000 currently live with these conditions, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples disproportionately affected.