17 Apr 2018
How good data saves lives
Every element of the Australian healthcare system needs to be changed to eliminate viral hepatitis according to epidemiologist Jennifer MacLachlan from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis at the Doherty Institute.
Ms MacLachlan spoke to Hepatitis Victoria for a special podcast, How good data saves lives, to talk about her ground-breaking work on the National Mapping Projects for hepatitis B and C.
The projects have received widespread attention and is giving health advocates important evidence to help fight viral hepatitis.
In the podcast, Ms MacLachlan discusses what ‘bigger picture’ data reveals about on-the-ground changes, and what Australia urgently needs to do to have a realistic chance of achieving the 2030 elimination targets.
"We are making gradual progress, but it is not as rapid as it needs to be," she said.
“Treatment uptake for hepatitis B is only increasing one per cent per year but we need it to double to reach the National Strategy target.”
CLICK HERE to listen to the full podcast.