Hepatitis C Missed Elimination Targets Could Cost Australia $1.4B

For healthcare providers and policymakers, the report is a critical warning: the failure to meet elimination targets is not just a clinical shortfall but a looming fiscal crisis, with $1.4B in avoidable costs from hepatitis C and $1.17B from hepatitis B. This analysis examines the systemic barriers—stigma, outdated treatment perceptions, and fragmented care—that are preventing Australia from leveraging its highly effective, short-course antiviral therapies to achieve a public health victory.

A new report from Hepatitis Australia, released on 28 July 2026, delivers a stark warning: Australia is at risk of missing its commitment to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, and the price of failure is measured in both lives and dollars. Modelling detailed in the report projects that failing to meet hepatitis B elimination targets will result in $1.17 billion in avoidable costs, while missing hepatitis C targets will generate nearly $1.4 billion in unnecessary expenditure. These figures encompass lost workforce participation, premature mortality, and ongoing healthcare costs, with $202 million alone attributed to those factors for hepatitis B.

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Modelling detailed in the report projects that failing to meet hepatitis B elimination targets will result in $1.17 billion in avoidable costs, while missing hepatitis C targets will generate nearly $1.4 billion in unnecessary expenditure.

The report arrives at a critical juncture. Australia was an early adopter of the World Health Organization’s 2016 global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis, which set ambitious 2030 elimination goals. Significant progress has been made, particularly against hepatitis C, following the listing of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in 2016. These once-daily oral regimens cure over 95% of patients in as little as 8–12 weeks, with minimal side effects. Yet, treatment uptake has plateaued. The report underscores that many Australians living with hepatitis C are either undiagnosed or, like 62-year-old Vicki Bagnara, avoiding treatment due to outdated perceptions of harsh interferon-based therapies that dominated care for decades.

Bagnara’s story is emblematic of the psychological and systemic barriers. Diagnosed in the 1980s when the disease had no name, she watched her partner suffer and die following interferon treatment. The trauma kept her from seeking care for a decade, fearing similar side effects and bearing the weight of stigma. “The treatment today is simple, short-term,” she said, noting that many remain unaware of the transformation. Stigma, both self-imposed and external, remains a debilitating force, as Bagnara described: “There’s self-shame, and then when you get that from outside, it’s debilitating.”

The economic modelling translates these human stories into a fiscal imperative. The $1.4 billion avoidable cost for hepatitis C is attributed to disease management expenses from delayed or missed diagnosis, inadequate monitoring, and the downstream consequences of liver cirrhosis, cancer, and liver failure that could have been averted. For hepatitis B, where a functional cure remains elusive but effective vaccination and suppressive therapy exist, the $1.17 billion figure similarly reflects the burden of chronic disease progression among the undiagnosed and unengaged.

Hepatitis Australia CEO Lucy Clynes framed the findings as both a cause for concern and a major opportunity. “If we build the momentum over the next four years, we’ll be able to reach those elimination targets, save lives, and spare thousands of Australians from avoidable disease,” she said. The four-year window until 2030 is shrinking. The report argues that a concerted expansion of screening, particularly in primary care and community settings, coupled with destigmatisation campaigns and simplified treatment pathways, can reverse the current trajectory. New models of care, such as nurse-led treatment and telehealth, have proven effective during the pandemic and could be scaled.