Newsletter
Issue 24 | December 2019
Editor Geraldine Muriritirwa Newsletter Graphic Artist Geraldine Muriritirwa Board of Management Executive Members Chairperson Nicole Jolly Vice Chairperson Justin Kwok Treasurer Scott Walkinshaw Secretary (in recruitment) Non Executive Members Carol Houghton Louise Southalan Pramod Kapoor Patron Dr Charles Watson CEO Brent Bell Postal Address PO Box 67 Francis Street Northbridge, WA 6865
Cover Photo Credit:
Information & Support Line Monday - Friday 9 AM - 5 PM (08) 9328 8538 Metro 1800 800 070 Country Office 134 Aberdeen Street Northbridge, WA 6003 Telephone: (08) 9227 9802 Fax: (08) 9227 6545 Web: www.hepatitiswa.com.au Proof Reading Brent Bell Steve Fragomeni Email the Editor marketing@hepatitiswa.com.au resources@hepatitiswa.com.au
Photo by Mourad Saadi
https://unsplash.com/@mougrapher
HepatitisWA acknowledges Aboriginal people as the traditional owners and custodians of our lands and water. HepatitisWA recognises and acknowledges the rights of their clients and carers when accessing our services.
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HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
Opinions published in the HepatitisWA Newsletter are not necessarily those of the editor or of HepatitisWA (Inc). Information in this newsletter is not intended to take the place of medical advice from your GP or specialist. You should always get appropriate medical advice on your particular needs or circumstances. *Disclaimer: The copyright of external articles published in this newsletter remain with the original authors and publishers, unless otherwise stated.
JANUARY 2020
Contents
Features
Community News
Deen Clinic
Update from Our In-House Nurses
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Message from Management
A Message from CEO Brent Bell
The Busy B
Going Viral
GP Liaison
The Staff Dreams Are Made Of
Hepatitis B Project 10 Eliminating Hep C One Call At A Time
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Homeless Connect Connecting People to the Cure
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Needle Syringe Programme
The Naloxone Project 18 Australian NSP Survey 18
NAIDOC
Celebrating NAIDOC Week 2019
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Workforce Development
The Birds and the BBVs Prison Officer Academy Induction Training
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A Round-Up of Global Articles on Viral Hepatits
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Introduction to HepatitisWA’s Newest Staff
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Promotions Deen Clinic
Service Details for the Deen Clinic
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Marketing Campaigns
Highlights from Our Successful Campaigns of 2019
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HWA Highlights Staff Highlights 14
Volunteer Highlights
National Volunteer Week 22
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stay
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connected www.hepatitiswa.com.au
www.facebook.com/HepatitisWA
www.twitter.com/HepatitisWA
www.instagram.com/HepatitisWA
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Welcome
Letter from
Message from
I am excited to present you with the Summer Edition of the HepatitisWA Newsletter. 2019 saw many changes come to HepatitisWA, starting with myself. As the new Marketing and Design Coordinator I have had big shoes to fill as we bade farewell to the much loved Eliana Ennis in January this year. This is my first newsletter publication at HepatitisWA and it has been an absolute adventure.
It has been a fantastic year here at HepatitisWA. I am so proud of the team of facilitators, clinicians, managers, and volunteers who have contributed to the many great outcomes achieved in 2019.
The Editor
The struggle is always deciding what to include. HepatitisWA has worked tirelessly all year. We’ve had many wins, mountain top moments as well as many learning curves and valleys. We’re a resilient, tenacious team and there’s so much that we would like to share, albeit in the few pages that follow. I say this to let you know that there is more going on than we celebrate publicly and here’s to hoping that this newsletter will be an opportunity for us to tell some of our untold stories. We said goodbye to a few staff members, including Frank Farmer, Sally Rowell, Bianca Fish, Rebecca Bowman, Reena D’Souza and said hello to me and a few others (page 12). We changed our corporate colours and painted the walls to match our new identity. We ran innovative marketing campaigns for the first time (page 13), designed and launched two new websites. Through all these changes, and more, the team has been a constant source or inspiration, support and laughter. With this, I present to you our latest newsletter. May you find inspiration, support and perhaps a little bit of laughter in the pages ahead. Enjoy the Summer (Edition)! Regards, Geraldine Muriritirwa Editor
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HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
Management
In the last 12 months we have expanded the scope of our projects and services to better support our clients and community. These developments have been collaborative, building on the brilliant ideas developed by our team and stakeholders. 2019 has been a BIG year for HepatitisWA and we finish out the calendar year with major improvements in infrastructure, improved corporate and sector partnerships and enhanced clinical governance. New contracts for IT support, cleaning services, and consumables procurement have increased our organisational efficiency in project delivery, videoconferencing support for regional areas and resources development. Our new look clinical team (RN, NP, GP) are working synergistically with our volunteers and Needle and Syringe Program coordinators to engage clients and provide opportunistic treatments and follow up. I am excited about how we have finished in 2019, and we are positioned for a great 2020. I would like to express a heartfelt appreciation to our hard working team of staff and volunteers at HepatitisWA, and my warmest wishes for a safe and merry Christmas to our community, our clients, and our stakeholders. Kind regards, Brent Bell Chief Executive Officer
Connect with us on Social Media Keep up to date on: Latest News Trending Hepatitis Articles Events Resources and Publications Campaigns
while connecting with our community
THE
Deen CLINIC
ORDER FREE RESOURCES ONLINE
Find us at: www.facebook.com/hepatitiswa www.instagram.com/hepatitiswa www.twitter.com/hepatitiswa www.linkedin.com/hepatitiswa
Going Viral
Global Articles on Viral Hepatitis
Coalition of Liver Associations Call For Simplifying Hep C Care Leaders of liver disease associations from Europe, the United States, Latin America and Asia issued a global call to action at The Liver Meeting [November, 2019] in Boston, aiming to advance toward the goal of eliminating hepatitis C as a public health threat. Approximately 71 million people worldwide have chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), and around 1.75 million more acquire the virus annually, according to the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), which sponsors the conference. In 2016, World Health Organization member states committed to eliminating viral hepatitis, with targets including an 80% reduction in new hepatitis B and C infections and a 65% reduction in mortality by 2030. Studies have shown that these targets are achievable, but to date countries have had variable success in moving toward them. The new statement, signed by representatives of AASLD, the
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HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), the Latin American Association for the Study of the Liver (ALEH) and the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL), calls for efforts to simplify HCV testing and treatment in order to make them more widely available, especially in resource-limited settings. The four associations, which are undertaking this initiative in partnership with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), outlined four strategies to achieve this goal:
effective and well tolerated and, most recently, new pangenotypic DAAs that make genotypic testing unnecessary.
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[https://www.aidsmap.com/ news/nov-2019/coalition-liverassociations-call-simplifyinghepatitis-c-care]
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• •
Simplifying diagnosis and treatment algorithms Integrating hepatitis C treatment into primary care and other disease programmes Decentralising HCV services to the local level Task-sharing with primary care clinicians and other health care practitioners.
These strategies are made possible by recent advances in the field, including rapid HCV antibody screening and confirmatory viral load testing that can be done at a single clinical visit, direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) that are highly
Michael Ninburg, president of the World Hepatitis Alliance, stressed the importance of involving both clinicians and patients in the initiative. “Countries do better at addressing viral hepatitis when civil society is engaged,” he said. “No one knows more about living with a disease than the patients… Doctors and patients speak more strongly with a united voice.”
Scientists Believe We Are Close to Finding A Cure For Hepatitis B Hepatitis B virus (HBV) takes a massive toll on humans and their economic conditions. Despite this, research into HBV is severely underfunded, to the point that it was later compared to a neglected tropical disease or syndrome. Causing more than 899, 000 deaths every year globally, HBV is
COMMUNITY NEWS
a significant threat to global public health. Some around 277 million people universally are chronically infected with HBV, and the disease is likely to cause around 45% of all major liver cancers, and the second most deadly disease would be cancer.
and cure hepatitis C virus (HCV) has created a sense of renewed hope among people, as well as an additional pressure, to find a cure and solution for HBV, which affects more people as well as has a higher death rate as compared to HCV.
The global partners joined forces to make the International Coalition to Eliminate Hepatitis B (ICE-HBV), with intend of fast-tracking the detection and discovery of a cure for HBV. The ICE-HBV formed international working teams of scientists comprising more than 55 global scientific leaders in HBV virology, technology, immunology, and clinical research. The fruits of this collaboration are starting to show.
However, none of the methods employed have had an effect on reaching the viral reservoir found in the liver, which caused liver cancer; hence, this remains the main goal for future strategies. While it is not possible to give an exact timeline, there is still hope for finding a cure for HBV.
There are now around 55 new hepatitis D virus and anti-HBV treatments being investigated, and 17 of these are undergoing phase 2 medical trials. While there is a vaccine to prevent HBV, lifelong treatment is required for those who are chronically infected. Therapy helps keep HBV under control, but it is definitely not a cure because it cannot completely eliminate HBV from the infected cells. Additionally, even with current treatment, people are still at a high risk of developing liver cancer, mainly those with underlying cirrhosis owing to chronic HBV. In the recent scientific progress and the drive created by the discovery of a treat
New Strains of Hepatitis C Found in Africa
[http://sellregular.info/2019/12/03/ scientists-believe-we-are-close-tofinding-a-cure-for-hepatitis-b/]
The largest population study of hepatitis C in Africa has found three new strains of the virus circulating in the general population in sub-Saharan Africa. The research from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the MRCUniversity of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research and collaborators suggested that certain antiviral drugs currently used in the West may not be as effective against the new strains and that clinical trials of patients in sub-Saharan Africa are urgently needed to assess optimal treatment
strategies in this region. Published in the Journal Hepatology, the discovery of the new strains could inform hepatitis C treatment and vaccine development worldwide, and assist the World Health Organisation’s aim of eliminating hepatitis C globally. To investigate HCV in subSaharan Africa, researchers carefully screened the blood of 7751 people from the general population in Uganda and, using molecular methods, found undiagnosed HCV in 20 of these patients. They sequenced the HCV genomes from these and two further blood samples from people born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and discovered three completely new strains of the virus, in addition to some strains seen in the west. Dr Emma Thomson, a senior author on the paper from Glasgow University, said: “It is important that there is a concerted effort to characterise hepatitis C strains in sub-Saharan Africa at a population level in order to assist countries to select optimal treatments for national procurement. It will also be important to inform vaccine design which would catalyse the elimination of hepatitis C by 2030. [https://www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/2018/12/181217105655. htm/]
Image sourced from: http://sellregular.info/2019/12/03/ scientists-believe-we-are-close-tofinding-a-cure-for-hepatitis-b/ HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
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Image: Julia Chin, Nurse Practitioner HepatitisWA
FEATURE ARTICLE
Deen Clinic
THE
Deen CLINIC
by Andy Carlin
From September, the Deen Clinic grew in staff members as HepatitisWA welcomed Nurse Practitioner Julia Chin and Registered Nurse Andy Carlin. Julia and Andy joined Dr Ric Chaney and Dr Lindsay Mollison to increase our capacity to test and treat for hepatitis C at the Deen Clinic. The team was rounded off with the continued support of Registered Nurse Annette Fraser from the GP Liaison Project who has kept the clinic running whilst we rebuilt the team. Julia has continued her work as a nurse at Boronia Prison and felt that the two roles form a unique nexus. Her opportunity to work at the Deen Clinic meant she could remain committed to following up on those who have left prison with new or old diagnoses of Hepatitis C, to start them on treatments or simply to make them aware of the cure available to them. “Our hope is to have the wider
community aware of this clinic and for them to be able to drop in for a chat and a quick test with one of our friendly nurses,” Julia said. “This can be opportunistic and coincide with the NSP which gets quite a few visitors through the door.” she said. The clinical team continued to assist patients with their journey toward cure, starting with the hard-working nurses. Andy came to us from Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital where she is still working. “We welcome patients into the clinic and start by taking a health history to help Ric, Lindsay and Julia to prepare treatment plans,” Andy said. “This can be as straight forward as a 12-week regime of one of the pangenotypic antivirals followed by a test for evidence of the virus twelve weeks after treatment ends. The clinic can also handle more complex cases with the extraordinary work of Drs Chaney and Mollison,” she said. Whilst the Deen Clinic was low on staff members, Annette, or
Annie as she is affectionately known as around HepatitisWA did an amazing job of making sure people who have been dealing with hepatitis C were seen and could access the help that they needed. “We can do both the patient intake and draw bloods in the one appointment so patients keep their appointments to a minimum with less impact on their time. I believe the most important part of our role is education and health promotion which enables the client to better understand hepatitis C and it gives us the opportunity to promote other services such as the naloxone program.” Annie said. The team continued to do outstanding work providing education, testing and treatment for hepatitis C, doing their part to reach the national 2030 goal of eliminating the virus in Australia.
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The Busy B by Amanda Siebert
Education Program The Hepatitis B Program has been expanding throughout 2019 to include a variety of Multicultural organisations, community groups and Adult Migrant English Programs throughout metropolitan and regional Western Australia. From January to June, 32 educational workshops were delivered reaching 699 multicultural adult participants. The top five nationalities reached were Burma, China, Afghanistan, Thailand and
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the Philippines. The workshops are fun, interactive and often use juicing and liver health as an introduction into Hepatitis B. Pictorial flash cards were also used to get key Hepatitis B messages across to groups learning English. All education sessions are evaluated with 98% of participants understanding transmission routes, and 92% understanding the importance of monitoring the liver if you have Hepatitis B.
Highlights from the Hepatitis B Education Program and the Health Ambassador Program
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The feedback from organisations on the educations sessions has been very positive; “I had Amanda come in to give her presentation to my Cert 3 English class yesterday. She was absolutely amazing – very interesting and interactive. My students enjoyed it thoroughly. More importantly, 90% of the class (myself included!) have made appointments with their doctors to get a blood test and/or vaccination for Hep B. Thanks for organising the session – highly recommended this to any other lecturer that would be interested.” (Lecturer, TAFE AMEP)
HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
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FEATURE ARTICLE
Highlights from the Hepatitis B Education Program and the Health Ambassador Program
Health Ambassador Program Research shows that peer education programs work well as community reach is wider and has access to people who may not normally use mainstream services. Bilingual community members have been recruited and trained to deliver hepatitis B education sessions to members of their own community in language. We currently have 11 active Health Ambassadors that have delivered 16 sessions in Jan – June 2019,
reaching a further 200 multicultural participants. Each Health Ambassador receives training and all resources to deliver a group session. Health Ambassadors receive remuneration for each session they deliver as HepatitisWA values the time and effort put into the program. Health Ambassadors evaluate each of their sessions, 96% understand transmission routes and 70% understanding the importance of monitoring the liver if you have Hepatitis B.
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COMMUNITY NEWS
the staff dreams are made of! these are
We’ve had some new members join the HepatitisWA team and we’d like to introduce them to you! Meet Andrea, Julia and Morgan. Andrea (Andy) Carlin
Julia Chin
Morgan Skinner
Andy joined the HepatitisWA team as a Registered Nurse in September 2019. HepatitisWA’s contact with, and care towards, community and its strong emphasis on health promotion and education is what attracted her to this position.
Julia qualified as a Nurse Practitioner from Curtin University in 2010. She focused her training on AOD (Alcohol and other drugs), Sexual Health & Indigenous Health.
Morgan joined HepatitisWA in early September, as the new Health Promotion Officer. She earned her Bachelor of Health Promotion in 2017 from the University of Notre Dame, where she was also awarded the School of Health Science’s Deans Award, and the John Bloomfield Award for Health and Physical Education.
She graduated from Curtin University in 2008 and worked at Fremantle Hospital for two years in the general wards and High Dependency Unit (HDU). After this, she travelled to London where she worked for more than two years as an agency nurse, and had her first experience with community nursing. She also worked at a health promotion organisation running a bowel cancer awareness campaign.
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Julia has recently commenced working part- time at HepatitisWA as a Nurse Practitioner. She has been working with people with Hepatitis C since 2004 when she started working in WA prisons.
When she returned, she went back to the HDU. She then moved to a West Leederville fertility clinic where she learned new skills in fertility treatment, ultrasound and theatre and recovery nursing.
“I love the new treatments. We are able to cure so many more people than we did previously. I remember when treatment was with interferon. The logistics of commencing someone on interferon in jail was much longer and complicated. Treatments took 6-12 months and many people had terrible side effects. It was difficult to commence some people on treatment as the work ups and treatments were long and some people weren’t in jail long enough for treatment.
After baby number 2 in 2017 she did agency work before starting as an occupational health nurse at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, refreshing her knowledge on immunisations and BBV knowledge.
“I am in such a unique position now working both in the prison system and community. I am confident that we can improve the transition of care and increase the treatment uptake and follow up in and out of prison”
HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
Her passion has always been working with young people, so it was fitting that her first role after graduating was as the Youth Health Promotion Officer at the Western Australian AIDS Council. “I loved this role and the experience I gained in engaging youth around topics such as sexual health, as well as being involved in the Western Australian Leavers Strategy as the Keep It Safe Summer coordinator.” She made the move to HepatitisWA in the hope of expanding her skill set to beyond working with just young people. “I am excited to be a part of the HepatitisWA team as I have been able to remain in the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus sector, while now working with diverse population groups. The fantastic team here is just a bonus!”
MARKETING CAMPAIGNS
PAPER CUP CAMPAIGN V1 HepatitisWA wants to grow awareness in the local community about the new lifesaving hepatitis C treatments. After discovering an organisation called Paper Cup Project that partners with local not-for-profits, artists and cafes, we believed that placing our message on 15,000 coffee cups would be a unique way to share information about the cure. The goal was to encourage people to talk about hep C and, in the long run, to see WA increase uptake of hep C treatments. The cups were designed by local artist, Bertie Louise and distributed to 16 cafes around the Perth Metro.
PAPER CUP CAMPAIGN V2 After the success of the first campaign, HepatitisWA decided to do another run of coffee cups, this time for 25,000. In addition to distributing the cups to cafes in the Perth Metro, we took the campaign a few steps further. We printed 2,000 flyers for statewide distribution, placed the campaign on the back of 3 CAT buses in the Perth CBD, displayed the message on our window decals and a prominent digital billboard, promoting all this on all our social media platforms. This combined effort came together thanks to the support of our media partners and the hardworking team at HepatitisWA.
TEST, CURE, LIVE! As part of a national strategy to eliminate hepatitis C in Australia, HepatitisWA was involved in the Test Cure Live (TCL) campaign. TCL is a hepatitis C awareness campaign that aims to engage and motivate people living with hepatitis C to speak to their doctor about testing and/or cure*. WA was involved in the 2nd cycle of the campaign (August to October 2019) and successfully engaged the community through multiple newspaper ads, radio ads and interviews, digital marketing efforts, a rigorous social media campaign (Facebook), window decals in our Perth CBD building and distributing flyers and mouse mats to GPs/health services.
*obtained from http://testcurelive.com.au/about
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Staff and Volunteer Highlights
Top to bottom, left to right - HepatitisWA team building day at Maniax, Northbridge; Morgan Skinner and volunteer Mandy Ault at the Belridge Health Expo, Bianca Fish at the ECU Joondalup Oday, Amanda Siebert at the Multicultural Women’s Expo at Balga TAFE; HepatitisWA Staff Meeting, Amanda Siebert and volunteer Shafeeqah Kilmartin at the Multicultural Women’s Expo at Balga TAFE; Matthew Armstrong at the Men’s Shed, HepatitisWA Volunteers at the National Volunteers Week Event at Holey Moley, Northbridge.
FEATURE ARTICLE
Eliminating Hep C ONE CALL AT A TIME
by Annette Fraser [GP Liaison Nurse]
In August I attended the 2nd Australasian Viral Hepatitis Elimination Conference (AVHEC) in Sydney the theme was Building momentum towards elimination of hepatitis B & C in Australasia. Key findings of the report can be accessed via http://www.avhec2019. com.au/ While providing a forum for health professionals and others working in the realm of viral hepatitis to meet and share ideas the focus of the event was on increasing diagnosis/ testing and improving models of care, treatment paradigms, and reinfection strategies. One conference objective was to improve support mechanisms for primary care professionals involved in the management of viral hepatitis – which falls nicely in line with the objective of the role of the GPLN. The conference gave me the opportunity to speak with and hear from other Nurses about their work and strategies to address similar issues which all Jurisdictions face. Such as reducing stigma and discrimination, accessing hard to
reach populations but also not so hard to reach “populations” who at some time in their lives did something – and it doesn’t really matter what – which has resulted in them contracting Hepatitis C – but they are not aware of this and therefore at high risk of developing hepatocellular cancer and or liver failure. So under the umbrella of the GP Project my aim is to encourage general practitioners and practice nurses to think differently about who may potentially have chronic hepatitis C, test them and treat to cure. I came across a wonderful campaign poster developed in New Zealand during their Community Butterfly Campaign - Titled Feeling OLD & TIRED What if it wasn’t just aging? What if we could fix it? When you consider this statement in line with classic symptoms of people with known hepatitis C to me it makes great sense to bring this to the attention of not only health professionals and the general public and get a pull push effect in diagnosis and treatment.
Poignantly said in the introduction of the AVHEC report; “Despite breakthroughs in anti-viral medication, many people living with chronic hepatitis across our region are not receiving care and many more are undiagnosed. Miracle drugs are not enough if people don’t know they are living with an infection or don’t understand the importance of treatment.” HELP E L I M I N AT E HEP C
Hepatitis C GP Liaison
Supporting GPs to be Part of the Cure Our GP Liaison Nurse Project (GPLN) is funded for 2 years by the Department of Health for the purpose of assisting General Practices to eliminate hepatitis C (HCV) from our community. Previously patients with a diagnosis of HCV were referred to specialist liver clinics. Now, GPs can treat most patients. Treatment is highly effective, of short duration, well tolerated by patients and is on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme. GPs who may not have managed patients with HCV will have the GPLN available to support and provide them with resources that will enable them to do so. Some GPs will not require this support as they are currently treating cases, but for those less experienced they may initially need support to: • Manage and treat patients living with chronic HCV and/or • Identify potential HCV cases in their practices. The aim of the GPLN role is to increase the number of people in Western Australia cured of hepatitis C, and to provide a sustainable workforce competent, confident and capable of prescribing hepatitis C treatments, and ultimately to reach the goal of eliminating hepatitis C from our community. Invaluable resources can be accessed via HepatitisWA website (www.hepatitiswa.com.au/gpproject). For more information contact HepatitisWA GP Liaison Nurse, Annette Fraser Phone (08) 9227 9800 Email gpproject@hepatitiswa.com.au Website www.hepatitiswa.com.au
HepatitisWA GP Liaison Flyer
HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
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HOMELESS CONNECT Connecting People to the Cure by Morgan Skinner
Each year HepatitisWA staff and volunteers happily give their time to attend Homeless Connect; an event coordinated by Volunteering WA and the City of Perth that caters to the needs of those experiencing homelessness, or who are at risk of becoming homeless. Members of our community who are sleeping rough, or who are experiencing such disadvantage often also face the most significant barriers in accessing services in the areas of health, housing and employment. While increasing awareness of free services (and those committed to eliminating shame, stigma, and discrimination often faced by this cohort) is a key aim of Homeless Connect, the primary purpose of the event is to foster new connections; and to allow comforts such as friendly conversation and a sense of belonging within a community. This was the brief given to the HepatitisWA team at the 2019 Homeless Connect Event. Thanks
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HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
to the donations of several Perth businesses and organisations (including Fremantle Smiles, Cockburn Super Clinic Pharmacy, and the Western Australian Dental Association); we were able to distribute over 100 small care packages to those who attended the event. Care packs consisted of a toothbrush and razor, a tube of toothpaste, condoms, tea bags and coffee sachets, and a small chocolate alongside other travelsized personal items. Staff and volunteers conversed with over 150 community members, many of whom who knew that Hepatitis C was prevalent amongst their peer group, and were eager to learn about how they could access testing and treatment services at HepatitisWA’s Deen Clinic. Several happily shared with us their own experiences of accessing the Hepatitis C cure, as well as the prevention messages that they were continuing to share with those around them. Regardless of the topic of discussion, everyone was
friendly and enthusiastic about talking to services in an open and judgement free environment. The presence of our Deen Clinic staff resulted in several new referrals for Hepatitis C testing, and given the close proximity of the event to the HepatitisWA office, many of these attended the Clinic for blood tests that same day. We were also happy to assist in the case of community members who had previously tried curing their Hepatitis C, but were unable to complete the treatment due to personal circumstances, and being displaced from their homes throughout their course of treatment. In each of these interactions, people where pleased to learn that each of the barriers that they may have experienced accessing testing and treatment elsewhere would not be an issue in utilising any of HepatitisWA’s services. This year’s Homeless Connect event also saw the unveiling of HepatitisWA’s Belonging Tree,
FEATURE ARTICLE
since being given a face lift with the traditional Torres Strait Islander colours by 17 year old artist Mavis Lyndon. The Belonging Tree was hugely popular, with many people coming over to ask about the artwork. Linking the tree to our growing knowledge of Hepatitis C made for many meaningful conversations; but has also allowed our organisation to continue to establish itself as one that is culturally safe for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and that is committed to Reconciliation. HepatitisWA’s presence at the 2019 Homeless Connect was a huge success. Our staff and volunteers not only provided a listening ear to those who just needed a chat, but were also able to increase awareness of our free services; facilitate discussions on Hepatitis C transmission and prevention; and most importantly to educate people about accessing the Hepatitis C cure.
made the care packs possible. While our success can be measured through number of conversations and resources distributed, this is secondary to the feedback we got from the community. So many people shared their gratitude with us that we had made Hepatitis C information so accessible at the event, and that we were doing what we could to normalise conversations about blood borne virus transmission. Most of all, people were appreciative of the time and resources given to pull an event together exclusively for those with needs that are most often disregarded due to misconceptions about a person’s circumstances. This feedback makes our presence incredibly worthwhile, and the whole HepatitisWA team looks forward to involvement in future events.
Our triumph is largely reflective of the support that we receive from our fantastic volunteers, who were nothing but enthusiastic about standing in the heat all day, all so that they could pass along information and support to those in need; as well as the generous contributions from local businesses that
Left: Morgan Skinner (left) and volunteer Shafeeqah Kilmartin (right); Right: display table at the Homeless Connect
HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
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The Naloxone Project At the beginning of the New Year, HepatitisWA commenced the provision and supply of Naloxone. Six staff members and one volunteer successfully undertook the training on the prevention of opioid overdose and administration of naloxone from the Mental Health Commission. Service staff were assessed during this training to ensure appropriate skills and knowledge were met. Naloxone stock is supplied to clients at risk of opioid overdose or likely to witness opioid overdose through Hepatitis WA Needle and Syringe Program following a one-on-one brief education session Many of our clients accessing the NSP are offered this life saving device, if they are using or around friends or family who are using opioids. Clients who would like to receive the take home naloxone pack are provided with a twenty minute education session. So far we have educated and provided 37 clients with the new intra nasal spray, Nyxoid. The feedback from some of our clients who have either experienced or witnessed overdose themselves are truly grateful to be able to have naloxone provided to them at no cost. Comment: “I have experienced overdose myself and saved quite a few mates but lost some too. I’m really happy to hear HepatitisWA can provide the new intra nasal spray for anyone using opioids”.
Ali Lori and Donna Garcia in the HepatitisWA NSP
Australian NSP Survey 2019 October 14th – 18th the NSP was buzzing with clients coming in to participate in the Australian NSP Survey, which is coordinated by the UNSW and Kirby Institute. Clients are offered to participate in the anonymous questionnaire followed by the finger prick samples. The surveys and five blood spot samples are looking at HIV, hepatitis C and sexual practices among people who inject. All clients participating in the week long survey are remunerated with a ten dollar gift voucher and some chocolates. This year the survey was led by HepatitisWA’s NSP Officer Donna and NSP/Volunteer Coordinator, Ali. We were provided with 100 surveys kits from the Kirby Institute with 99 successfully completed.
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HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
Image of Australian NSP Survey 2019
FEATURE ARTICLE
NAIDOC by Donna Garcia
The first week in July was NAIDOC week. HepatitisWA love getting involved with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders significant days, especially the celebration of NAIDOC week. As myself being an Australian Indigenous woman, I really enjoy this time to communicate with my people and offer some education around hepatitis B & C and harm reduction, safe ways. This year we were involved in the Mirrabooka NAIDOC as well as Ashfield NAIDOC. The Mirrabooka
NAIDOC was a small community event held at Herb Graham Centre on the Monday, which roughly seen us engage with about 300 people. Ashfield on the other hand was a bigger event, held on the Thursday. We had our own tent, which we could have two tables set up. For the first time we had a table set up for children, where they could do easy puzzles or colouring pictures around hepatitis and equipment they shouldn’t share, e.g. toothbrush, nail clippers
and razors. We also had some temporary tattoos; the children could put on themselves. The other table was items that are more adult and pamphlets, and we spoke more in depth around Hepatitis and the risks, harms, preventions, testing and access to treatments. We engaged with roughly 600 people.
Bianca Fish (left) and Donna Garcia (right) at the Mirrabooka NAIDOC week event
HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
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Artwork above obtained from:
The Birds and the BBVs Training
The Birds and the BBVs
The Birds and the BBVs is offered as a one or two day training course which aims to bring together Aboriginal Health Workers and others who work with Aboriginal people to increase their knowledge, skills, motivation and confidence to yarn with clients and community about why testing for STIs, HIV and BBVs is important and identify ways to normalise testing within a routine health check.
Routine testing for STIs, HIV and BBVs by Matthew Armstrong
The one day training provides an overview and awareness of all the objectives, while the two day training delivers themonths, objectives in more people detail and andpreventing incorporates more group workPort activities. Over the last six further role play and training in Perth, Bunbury, HepatitisWA’s workforce infections. It has also provided Hedland, Geraldton, Broome, development officer, Matthew HepatitisWA with an opportunity to Kununurra, Halls Creek and had the fortunate speak Aboriginal Carnarvon, with 87 people AfterArmstrong, the training participants will betoable to: health workers opportunity to accompany trainers about high rates of hepatitis C participating in the training. from the Health Council in these regions and raiseinformed consent Approximately of the • toGain for STI,half HIV and BBV • Outline keyAboriginal information about the consequences, of Western Australia (AHCWA) into awareness about increasing participants worked in a clinical testingrates modes of transmission, symptoms, treatment Pilbara andof Goldfield regions Aboriginal setting and the rest were non clinical andthe prevention STIs, HIV and BBVs for hepatitis C amongst • Explain what happens when a client has a to assist them with their “Birds and people.” staff working with young Aboriginal positive result, including treatment, referral, • Discuss the impact of STIs, HIV and BBVs on the BBV’s” STI/BBV training for people. contact tracing and follow-up. Aboriginal people and communities Aboriginal health workers. It is very important that regional Identify to overcome to • Identify at risk groups who should be offered health workers are• familiar withstrategiesOverall evaluationchallenges from participants opportunistic STI,has HIV andvery BBV testing testing for STIs and/or HIVaimed and BBVs The 2-day training program to the common risks associated been positive with a 100% increase knowledge, skills, with transmission of reporting an increase in confidence • BBV’s, Raisethat awareness of harm minimisation strategies • Discuss theworkers’ importance of incorporating motivation and confidence to yarn discussing these risk factors is to discuss offerthrough STI/BBV to reduce the risk of Hep Cand/or and HIV opportunistic testing for STIs, HIV and BBVs into with clients and community about normalised, and that testing forinjecting drug testing to including their clients.where and unsafe use routine health care the importance of testing for STIs, BBV’s is included as part of routine how to access NSP in the local community • Raise BBV test HIVthe andtopic BBVs.of having a STI, HIV and screening. HepatitisWA looks forward to • Refer clients for further care and collaborative support if an to clients who present to the Aboriginal Medical continued strong, issue arises beyond their scope of practice. Service for another reason “It has been great to assist AHCWA “Raising awareness about relationships with AHCWA and on thiswhen project, the many years prevention many more opportunities to combine • Identify toover refer clients who require a full strategies, referral that we have Assessment been collaborating, but pathways and, most importantly, that expertise and improve the health Sexual Health in particular over the last six to 12 hepatitis C can be cured is vital to and wellbeing of Aboriginal people months,” Matthew Armstrong said. the long-term health of Aboriginal in WA. “The current circumstances are people’s health and wellbeing,” For more information and to Register contact: concerning with the recent outbreak Matthew said. (08) 9227 1631 Veronica Walshe, veronica.walshe@ahcwa.org, of syphilis in these and other WA regions that have hit Aboriginal Over the past 12 months AHCWA Birdswith and BBVs is funded communities. The need for this inAHCWA partnership Hepatitis WA by the SHBBVP of the WA Department of Health. education is essential in curing delivered the “Birds and BBVs”
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450 Beaufort Street, Highgate Western Australia 6003 Ph: (08) 9227 1631 | Fax: (08) 9228 1099 AHCWA | THEAHCWA | www.ahcwa.org.au HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
RTO ID: 51902
FEATURE ARTICLE
Prison Officer Academy Induction Training by Matt Armstrong
In the latter half of 2019, HepatitisWA’s workforce development portfolio added a new string to its bow, providing the BBV staff induction and safety training for the Department of Justice’s Prisoner Officer Recruit Academy. Prison populations tend to have proportionally high caseloads of clients living with BBV’s and as such, prison officers require a solid understanding of the nature of the viruses and their appropriate and safe management. The training for the recruits focussed heavily on BBV transmission and
prevention, ensuring that officers were aware of how to handle workplace risks such as sharps and blood spills and utilisation of standard precautions. The training also focused on prevention strategies for high-risk behaviours in prison, and everyday behaviours that do not pose a risk. Importantly, the training covered legislation and the importance of maintaining confidentiality and issues of disclosure. The training concluded with the importance of testing and directacting antivirals (DAAs) treatment,
and pathways for prisoners to healthcare both inside and outside of prison settings to access the cure. So far HepatitisWA conducted 7 workshop with 176 participants. Recruits and management staff attended this training. They returned very positive feedback on both their interest in, and the relevance of, the information for them. HepatitisWA is very excited about this collaboration and partnership, and will continue to provide this service to the training academy into 2020 and beyond.
THE
Deen CLINIC
HepatitisWA’s
Deen Clinic
100% Bulk Billing
is now open for hepatitis C treatments. Available to people who continue to use drugs and/or do not have a GP. Our services include: • Hepatitis C Testing • Hepatitis C Treatment • Support • Referrals
To make an appointment call (08) 9227 9800
HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
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National Volunteer Week 2019 May 20 to 26, we celebrated National Volunteering Week 2019. HepatitisWA was very fortunate to receive a grant through Volunteering WA and Lottery west. Receiving the grant enabled us to celebrate with our volunteers and show our gratitude. We marked the special event at Holey Moley Mini Golf in Northbridge. This was an extremely successful night with lots of fun had by all. Importantly, it was a rare opportunity for our volunteers to gather and to socialize with each other and with staff members.
Top: HWA staff and volunteers group photo, Bottom: NSP and Volunteer Coordinator, Ali Lori
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HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHTS
HWA staff and volunteers at the National Volunteers Week Event at Holey Moley, Northbridge.
HepatitisWA Newsletter // Dec 2019
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134 Aberdeen Street Northbridge WA 6003 (08) 9227 9800 Helpline Metro (08) 9328 8538 Helpline Country 1800 800 070 info@hepatitiswa.com.au www.hepatitiswa.com.au