Hepatitis C

FREE Test* & Treatment for Hepatitis C - a common cause of liver disease.

• Get tested for Hep C at a pharmacy near you 
• Treatment is just a short course of tablets for 8 weeks for most
• It could save your life
• Get tested and treated for FREE*
  
  *Free for NZ residents. Pharmacists can now treat most people with hep C. Test results in just 5 minutes.

You may be at risk of hepatitis C if you: 

• ever had a tattoo or body piercing using unsterile equipment 
• had a blood transfusion before 1992 
• ever injected drugs 
• have ever been in prison 
• ever lived or had medical treatment in a high-risk country (e.g. Pakistan, Egypt, Eastern Europe including Russia, developing countries in Africa and Asia) 
• were born to a mother with hepatitis C, or... 
• are aged from 35 to 69 years.

If you are a New Zealand resident and fit one or more of these risk factors, pharmacy can screen you for hepatitis C for free. 

Most people with hep C can also be treated by the pharmacist in just 8 weeks.

There are 13 pharmacies in Northland offering this service.

Background

• Around 40,000 New Zealanders are living with hepatitis C. However, due to symptoms often not appearing for many years, half of them are unaware they have it. 

• Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that attacks the liver and can lead to cancer.

• The virus is a major public health threat in New Zealand. Around 500 people contract hepatitis C every year and 150 people die from it.

• While there is now a highly effective treatment that can cure up to 98 percent of those with hepatitis C, to achieve elimination we must ensure that everyone who has the virus is diagnosed so they can receive this treatment. 

• At risk people include those who have ever injected drugs, received a tattoo or body piercing using unsterile equipment, been in prison, received medical treatment in a high-risk country, had a blood transfusion before 1992 or been born to a mother with hepatitis C.

• World Hepatitis Day will also see the launch of the National Hepatitis C Action Plan for Aotearoa New Zealand. The Action Plan sets out how New Zealand will eliminate hepatitis C as a major public health threat by 2030.