One of the outcomes of the DruGS team’s Australian Research Council-funded project on the uptake of hepatitis C treatment in Australia is a collection of VitalvoicesonhepC.org resources. These are now being distributed for free to services and individuals.

Launched on 31 May 2022 at the Australasian Viral Hepatitis Conference in Brisbane, VitalvoicesonhepC.org is a much-needed website that features the personal stories of people living with hepatitis C and their experiences of treatment and cure. 

As explained by project coordinator Dr Adrian Farrugia:

“Many people are keen to get treatment for their hepatitis C, but issues such as previous experiences of stigma within the healthcare system, insecure housing and struggles with mental health are preventing them from doing so”, Dr Farrugia said.

“Alongside the need to juggle many other pressing concerns, some people have little knowledge of the new treatments and aren’t sure whether they are different from past medications that caused serious side effects and had low success rates”.

This new online resource uses people’s own words to counter misconceptions about hepatitis C, and informs people affected by it that a high-quality treatment option is now available.

To help share the stories and experiences gathered through this ARC-funded project, the DruGS team has developed a series of A4 broadsheets that may be useful to practitioners who work with people affected by hepatitis C.

We also have available postcards, posters and USB drives that help promote this groundbreaking website. These resources were designed for display and distribution to health service clients in waiting rooms or similar areas.

These resources are available at no cost. If in your work you see people who are living with hepatitis C, or you or someone you know is affected by hepatitis C in some way, we encourage you to email Andrew Whalley to place an order (a.whalley@latrobe.edu.au).