As the COVID-19 pandemic increases people’s awareness of their health and wellbeing, the Multicultural HIV and Hepatitis Service (MHAHS) is reminding people of the necessity to take care of their health and their liver in a state-wide multi-channel hepatitis B campaign.

The campaign encourages people from diverse communities to get tested for hepatitis B. The aim is to raise awareness of hepatitis B testing and treatment in Arabic, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese-speaking communities living in NSW.

Beginning 19 October, the month-long campaign will run across ethnic newspaper, radio and social media outlets, and communicate a simple message: Are you living with hepatitis B? Find Out. Get Tested.

Getting check-ups and finding whether you are living with hepatitis B matters even more during COVID-19, according to Barbara Luisi, Director of Diversity Programs and Strategy Hub.

“The spread of the coronavirus reminds us of the importance of taking care of ourselves,” said Ms Luisi.

“There are many things we can do to take care of ourselves, including maintaining a healthy lifestyle, doing regular check-ups and being aware of any potential health issues before it is too late. Getting tested and finding whether you have hepatitis B is part of it.”

An estimated 325 million people are living with viral hepatitis in the world with nearly 90% of them unaware that they are infected, according to the World Health Organization. Without treatment, it can lead to liver cancer.

In Australia, there were an estimated 230,034 people living with chronic hepatitis B as of the end of 2016, according to a report published by the Kirby Institute in 2019, with only 7% were receiving treatment. A large proportion of people living with chronic hepatitis B is still undiagnosed, many of them are born overseas.

Effective treatments are available which improve the health of people living with chronic hepatitis B. Early access to treatment prevents serious liver damage and allows people to live longer, healthier lives.

The campaign encourages people to speak to their doctor and families about getting a hepatitis B test.

Four key messages are conveyed through the campaign to tackle hepatitis B among diverse communities:

• People from diverse communities should talk to their doctor and ask for a hepatitis B test. All conversations with your doctor remain private in Australia.
• The only way to know if you have chronic hepatitis B is by having a specific blood test.
• Hepatitis B is common in many diverse communities, although most people with hepatitis B remain unaware and do not have any symptoms.
• Effective treatments are available that control the hepatitis B virus and reduce liver damage and the risk of liver cancer.

A multilingual resource toolkit, which includes the campaign resources and guidelines for use is available on the campaign webpage.

For media interviews, please call Sonam Paljor at 95151234 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

2020 World Hepatitis Day/Hepatitis Awareness Week

People from diverse communities are being urged to get tested for hepatitis B as part of a new campaign by the Multicultural HIV and Hepatitis Service to support World Hepatitis Day 2020. The Are you living with hepatitis B? Find Out. Get Tested campaign aims to raise awareness of hepatitis B testing and treatment in Arabic-speaking, Chinese-speaking, Korean and Vietnamese communities living in NSW.

World Hepatitis Day rightly refocuses our attention to viral hepatitis work and urges communities to take care of their health by asking their doctor for a hepatitis B test, according Barbara Luisi, Director of the Diversity Programs and Strategy Hub.

“We have made a lot of progress towards eliminating viral hepatitis from the world. While COVID-19 has had an impact on most essential services, we have also worked hard and adapted how we promote our hepatitis B testing and treatment services in the community,” said Ms Luisi.  

According to the World Hepatitis Alliance, globally an estimated 325 million people are living with viral hepatitis with about 290 million unaware of their status. Untreated it can lead to liver cancer.

There are more than 230,034 people living with chronic (long term) hepatitis B in Australia with about 83,812 living in NSW. Almost 50 percent of people living with chronic hepatitis B are undiagnosed. Many are born overseas and diagnosed too late to benefit from effective care and treatment.

Senior Staff Specialist at the AW Morrow Gastro and Liver Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Associate Professor Simone Strasser has called for more awareness and collaboration to highlight the many benefits of people knowing their hepatitis B status.

“Finding if you have hepatitis B matters now more than ever before. Effective treatments are available which improve the health of people living with chronic hepatitis B. Early access to treatment prevents serious liver damage and allows people to live longer, healthier lives. If you know your status, you can also take action to prevent passing it on to other people,” said Dr Strasser.

The campaign encourages people to speak to their doctor and families about getting a hepatitis B test.

The campaign released four key points to tackle hepatitis B among diverse communities:

• People from diverse communities should talk to their doctor and ask for a hepatitis B test. All conversations with your doctor remain private in Australia.
• The only way to know if you have chronic hepatitis B is by having a specific blood test.
• Hepatitis B is common in many diverse communities, although most people with hepatitis B remain unaware and do not have any symptoms.
• Effective treatments are available that control the hepatitis B virus and reduce liver damage and the risk of liver cancer.

For media interviews,  please call Sonam Paljor at 95151234 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This HIV Testing Week is calling for people to know their HIV status despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Aimed at helping people find out their HIV status, the campaign urges people including those from diverse cultural backgrounds, to get tested for HIV.

HIV testing is a vital first step to tackling HIV, according to Barbara Luisi, Director of the Diversity Programs and Strategy Hub at Sydney Local Health District.

“HIV testing can put people in control of their HIV status. Where a test is positive, effective treatments mean people can live a long, healthy life and are less likely to pass on the virus. Regardless of the test result, testing also helps make people HIV aware, giving them the facts and confidence to prevent new infections, and ultimately putting an end to HIV,” said Ms Luisi.

HIV remains a public health concern in Australia with an estimated 27, 545 people living with HIV in Australia currently.




Nearly one in ten Australians living with HIV are unaware they have the virus and may be unknowingly passing on the virus to others. They also risk missing out on getting HIV treatments on time due to late diagnosis.

The Testing Week campaign aims to increase awareness of HIV testing and encourages people to test regularly.

There are a variety of ways to get tested for HIV, according to Professor David Templeton, Head of Department, Sexual Health Medicine at the RPA Sexual Health of the Sydney Local Health District.

“It is easy to get tested for HIV, especially as people across NSW can now order a free home testing kit online.”

The HIV home testing kit, Dried Blood Spot (DBS) HIV Test allows people to order a free self-sampling kit online, take their sample in the privacy of their own home and send it to a laboratory for testing and results management. You do not need to go to a clinic or doctor to do this test. Testing kits can be ordered from http://www.hivtest.health.nsw.gov.au which also has information in a range of languages including plain English.

The DBS test results are kept private and confidential.

The Sydney Local Health District based Multicultural HIV and Hepatitis Service is supporting the campaign by undertaking an ethnic media campaign across eight languages to promote home HIV testing.

For media interviews, please contact Sonam Paljor at 9515 1234 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.