Strengthening Testing and Management

Four face-to-face training workshops for primary healthcare workers are to be held in rural locations in New South Wales, Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia.  

“New hepatitis C treatments will soon be available which offer a cure to most patients, are well tolerated and have shorter treatment duration. It is very exciting times in hepatitis C management,” said Annie Balcomb, a General Practitioner and HBV/HCV prescriber working in Orange.

“With new treatments becoming available soon, Australia has the potential to eradicate this chronic disease in the long term, like polio in the 1960s. It is vital that primary care practitioners across Australia, especially in rural and regional remote regions are upskilled now in readiness for the increase in treatment numbers.” 

In addition, Dr Balcomb said that changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme regarding hepatitis B prescribing and dispensing will also enable primary care practitioners to provide treatment for chronic hepatitis B with minimal specialist intervention.

“Strengthening testing and management in primary care is an increasingly important strategy for improving the health outcomes for people living with blood-borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections.  Practitioners in primary care will now be able to provide a full continuum of care,” said Dr Balcomb.

The courses will take place in Mount Isa in North West Queensland on July 25th, followed by Karratha (WA), Parkes (NSW), and Port Augusta (SA). The areas were identified as having high need based on examination of epidemiological data and consultation with local stakeholders.

Mount Isa has the highest chronic hepatitis B notification rate in the Central and North West QLD region and a survey of local health professionals indicated a strong need for training in hepatitis B and C.

Each course will be customised to focus on specific blood borne viruses (BBVs) and sexually transmissible infections (STIs) dependent on the local need. They will focus on the practicalities of clinical practice. At the end of each course, participants should be able to:

·         Identify priority populations to opportunistically test for BBVs and STIs and appropriately order and interpret serology and other tests.

·         Improve testing and management of Blood Borne Viruses (BBVs) and STIs in the primary care setting.

Speakers include local doctors, liver clinicians and nurse practitioners.

The training for each course is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health as part of the Rural Health Continuing Education Stream Two (RHCE2) Program. The courses are free for GPs, Nurses and midwives, Aboriginal Health Workers, and Allied Health Practitioners. All meals will be provided. All courses are being run by the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine (ASHM).

To read more or register, please visit www.ashm.org.au/hbv/training

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About ASHM

ASHM is a peak organisation of health professionals in Australia and New Zealand who work in HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections (STIs). ASHM draws on its experience and expertise to support the health workforce and to contribute to the sector, domestically and internationally.