Despite this progress, liver cancer death rates have increased by more than 40 per cent.
Without treatment, chronic hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis C can cause liver damage and liver cancer – but many people don’t know they have it.
Dr Rekha Jayaram Rao, a GP based at Campsie Medical Centre, works with communities at higher risk of hepatitis.
She said the only way to know if you have chronic hepatitis is by getting a blood test.
“It’s just one simple test, one that can prevent you from going down the other path to serious complications like liver cancer,” Dr Rekha Rao said.
“We are very lucky that there is treatment for hepatitis B and there are ways of curing hepatitis C.
“If it is picked up early, we can monitor it, manage it and reduce the risk of damage to the liver.”
More than 70 per cent of people with chronic hepatitis B in NSW were born overseas in regions where the virus is very common, many of whom were infected around birth.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are also disproportionately affected, particularly those born before the introduction of universal hepatitis B vaccination for all babies in 2000.
Get help to find a GP near you to ask about testing: healthdirect.gov.au
Death rates fall but not for liver cancer
OVER the past 20 years, death rates from all cancers combined in Australia have decreased by around 25 per cent, thanks to improvements in prevention, early detection, treatment and care.
