New treatments for hepatitis C must be made available on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme immediately, a lobby group says.
The call from Hepatitis Australia comes as research from Sydney's Kirby Institute shows almost 45,000 Australians are now living with hep C-related severe liver disease, more than double the number of affected people a decade ago.
Hepatitis C-related liver disease cases have jumped from 18,582 in 2004 to 44,736 last year, while hep C is the leading cause of liver transplants in Australia.
It's also caused 690 deaths in Australia in 2014, a 146 per cent increase on 10 years ago.
Hepatitis Australia acting CEO Kevin Marriott says the figures are compelling evidence that new and improved treatments for the disease must be placed on the PBS.
"Interferon-free therapies will allow the vast majority of people living with the hepatitis C virus to be cured, even where treatment has failed previously and without the terrible side-effects of existing treatments," he said.
"It's time for the federal government to act on the advice of its experts and make these new cures widely available before more people progress to serious liver disease and die."
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