Hep B PAST – Partnership Approach to Sustainably eliminating Chronic Hepatitis B in the Northern Territory (NT) - is working towards the elimination of chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in the Northern Territory.
Aims:
Improve health literacy about HBV amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, people living with HBV and primary healthcare providers
Improve the cascade of care for individuals living with CHB in the NT
Objectives:
We will enable people living with CHB and their communities to have access to culturally appropriate effective education tools in their first language. We will evaluate and translate the existing “Hep B Story” educational app into a further 10 languages which will cover >70% of the NT Indigenous population.
CHB care will be transitioned into the primary care setting in the remote NT context using the chronic disease model. Central coordination through an NT HBV clinical register and an allocated core clinical care team will improve the cascade of care for CHB.
Summary:
We have the necessary tools in place to achieve elimination of CHB: an effective vaccine, effective antivirals, and long-term relationships between project partners and Indigenous communities. Our aim is that with significant investment over the next 5 years we can substantially improve community health literacy, determine sero-status of >80% of Indigenous individuals, and by shifting CHB to a chronic disease care model have >80% of individuals with CHB engaged in guideline-based management with 15% receiving and remaining on treatment.
The project commenced in 2018 and was completed in December 2023.
Managing Hep B course
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce play a crucial role in the path to viral hepatitis elimination by providing hep B care on country.
This course is exclusively for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants. The 1-day face-to-face workshop will help participants learn more about chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and the role they can play in managing CHB including health promotion, liver health, and providing holistic care. The course is open to anyone who may be interested in attending and can play a role in hep B knowledge and care in community - health workers, trainees, clinic staff, community members – we encourage all to attend. We especially encourage former participants to come along, share their stories and facilitate some sessions. For more information, please find the flyer here.
Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM)
NT AIDS and Hepatitis Council (NTAHC)
Hosking K, Binks P, De Santis T, Wilson P, et al. Evaluating a novel model of hepatitis B care, Hep B PAST, in the Northern Territory of Australia: results from a prospective, population-based study. The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific, Volume 48,2024,101116, ISSN 2666-6065. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2024.101116
Binks, P., Venkatesan, S., Everitt, A., Garambaka Gurruwiwi, G., Dhurrkay, Bukulatjpi, S.M., R., Ross, C., Alley, T., Hosking, K.,Vintour-Cesar, E., McKinnon, M., Sullivan, R., Davis J.S., Hefler, M., Davies J. (2024). “An evaluation and refinement of the ‘Hep B Story’ app, tailored to meet the community’s cultural needs”. BMC Health Service Research 24: 710. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-11149-y
Binks, P., Ross, C., Garambaka Gurruwiwi, G., Wurrawilya, S., Alley, T., Bukulatjpi, S.M., Vintour-Cesar, E., Hosking, K., Davis J.S., Hefler, M., Davies J. (2024). “Adapting and translating the ‘Hep B Story’ App the right way: A transferable toolkit to develop health resources with, and for, Aboriginal people. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 11 (1). http://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.858
Hosking, K., De Santis, T., Vintour-Cesar, E., Wilson, PM., Bunn, L., Garambaka Gurruwiwi, G., Wurrawilya, S., Bukulatjpi Mariyalawuy, S., Nelson, S., Ross, C., Stuart-Carter, K-A., Ngurruwuthun, T., Dhagapan, A. (2024). Putting the power back into community: A mixed methods evaluation of a chronic hepatitis B training course for the Aboriginal health workforce of Australia’s Northern Territory. PLoS ONE 19(1): e0288577 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288577
Hosking, K., De Santis, T., Vintour-Cesar, E., Wilson, P. M., Bunn, L., Gurruwiwi, G. G., Wurrawilya, S., Bukulatjpi, S. M., Nelson, S., Ross, C., Binks, P., Schroder, P., Davis, J. S., Taylor, S., Connors, C., & Davies, J. (2023). “The most culturally safe training I’ve ever had.” The co-design of a culturally safe Managing hepatitis B training course with and for the Aboriginal health workforce of the Northern Territory of Australia. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2830413/v1
Hanson, J., Radlof, S., Littlejohn, M., Hempenstall, A., Edwards, R., Nakata, Y., Gregson, S., Hayes, R., Smith, S., McKinnon, M., Binks, P., Tong, S. Y. C., Davies, J., & Davis, J. S. (2023). Hepatitis B genotypes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: correlation with clinical course and implications for management. Internal Medicine Journal, 10.1111/imj.16181. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/imj.16181
Sullivan, R.P., Davies, J., Binks, P, McKinnon, M., Dhurrkay RG., Hosking, K., Bukulatjpi SM., Locarnini, S., Littlejohn, M., Jackson, K., Tong SYV., Davis, JS. Preventing early childhood transmission of hepatitis B in remote Aboriginal communities in northern Australia. Int J Equity Health 21, 186 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-022-01808-z
Sullivan, R.P., Baird, R., Freeman, K. Heggie H., Davis JS., Marshall CS., Davies J. Viral hepatitis in correctional facilities in the Northern Territory of Australia 2003–2017. BMC Infect Dis. 21, 584 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-06286-2
Hosking, K., Stewart, G., Mobsby, M., Skov, S., Zhao, Y., Su, J-Y. et al. (2020). Data linkage and computerised algorithmic coding to enhance individual clinical care for Aboriginal people living with chronic hepatitis B in the Northern Territory of Australia – Is it feasible? PLoS ONE 15(4): e0232207.
Hla, T., Bukulatjpi, S., Binks, P., Gurruwiwi, G., Dhurrkay, R. & Davies, J. (2020). A “one stop liver shop” approach improves the cascade-of-care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians living with chronic hepatitis B in the Northern Territory of Australia: results of a novel care delivery model. International Journal Equity in Health 19:64.
Qama, A., Allard, N., Cowie, B., Davis, J. & Davies, J. (2020). Hepatitis B in the Northern Territory: chi into the changing epidemiology of an ancient condition. Internal Medicine Journal, 51:910-922.
Sullivan, R., Davies, J., Binks, P., Dhurrkay, R., Gurruwiwi, G., Bukulatjpi, S., McKinnon, M., Hosking, K., Littlejohn, M., Jackson, K., Locarnini, S., Davis, J. & Tong, S. (2019). Point of care and oral fluid hepatitis B testing in remote Indigenous communities of Northern Australia. Journal of Viral Hepatitis 27:407-414.
Yuen, L. K. W., Littlejohn, M., Duchêne, S., Edwards, R., Bukulatjpi, S., Binks, P., Jackson, K., Davies, J., Davis, J. S., Tong, S. Y. C., & Locarnini, S. (2019). Tracing Ancient Human Migrations into Sahul Using Hepatitis B Virus Genomes. Molecular biology and evolution, 36(5), 942–954. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msz021
Cheah BC, Davies J, Singh GR, Wood N, Jackson K, Littlejohn M, Davison B, McIntyre P, Locarnini S, Davis JS, Tong SYC. Sub-optimal protection against past hepatitis B virus infection where subtype mismatch exists between vaccine and circulating viral genotype in northern Australia. Vaccine 36 (2018) 3533-3540
Littlejohn, M., Davies, J., Yuen, L., Tong, S., Davis, J.S., & Locarnini, S. (2014). Molecular virology of Hepatitis B virus, subgenotype C4 in Northern Australian Indigenous populations. Journal of Medical Virology, 86(4), 695-706.
The Hep B Story app is a visual, interactive app designed for patients living with chronic hepatitis B (hep B) and their families. It tells the story of the hep B virus, how you get it, what happens over time, how you know you have it as well as details about immunisation and treatment. It also features a separate women’s business section discussing mother to child transmission and ways to prevent it.
On 25 November 2021, we launched the updated version of the Hep B Story app. Created and translated by community members and health workers across the NT, it is now available in English, Yolŋu matha, Kunwinjku, Tiwi, Arrernte, Warlpiri, Pitjantjatjara, Burarra and Anindilyakwa. In 2022, the app will also be released in Murrinh-patha and Gurindji.
