TRANSCRIPT:
As a busy mother juggling the demands of a young kids and work, for a time Mei Mak's Hepatitis B diagnosis took a back seat.
She'd never had any symptoms since discovering she was a carrier before marriage.
Then one day, she says an annual check-up with her doctor revealed a shock result.
"She found out that my viral load had increased dramatically and so she alerted me and say Mei I'm going to send you to the hospital ... I started to like be a bit scared, a bit concerned, like oh."
She's returned every six months since to monitor more closely how the condition is progressing.
Almost 300,000 people in Australia live with Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C - often without any warning signs of liver damage.
Professor Gregory Dore of the Kirby Institute says that silent progression is exactly why routine testing matters.
"Because it doesn't cause symptoms in the initial years, and sometimes even in the initial decades of infection, that's why it can be termed the silent killer because people can have the infection and it can be causing damage to the liver, but they're completely unaware of that, so that's why it's really crucial that we get the message out about who should be screened and tested."
Hepatitis Australia CEO Lucy Clynes says understanding who's most at risk is also a crucial part of that process.
"We know that half that population are either undiagnosed, that means they don't know they are living with hepatitis or they are not connected to the care or the treatment that they need. Hepatitis is Australia's leading cause of cancer death - we have to get people connected to care and support."
Its new report poses the question - if 100 people were living with viral hepatitis, who would they be?
It found 69 would be living with Hepatitis B and almost a quarter with Hepatitis C.
Some can live with multiple forms.
The conditions differ as do their treatments.
Hepatitis C is curable, but has no vaccine.
Hepatitis B has a vaccine and treatments, but no cure.
Eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat is the major goal, with almost 1,000 deaths in Australia recorded each year.
The federal government is aiming to get there by the end of the decade.
But Hepatitis Australia wants more action, warning the current rate of progress won't reach that target.
"We know migrant communities are disproportionately impacted by viral hepatitis - particularly Hepatitis B. That means we have to be providing information in a range of community languages and in ways that are culturally sensitive to the needs of migrant populations."
The snapshot shows 70 per cent of people affected by Hepatitis B would be born overseas, including higher rates from countries in south east Asia, where mother-to-child transmission is more common.
While more than half - 56 per cent - speak a language other than English at home.
Mei Mak has the experienced the stigma that can come with a diagnosis.
But she's urging others not to let that stop them looking out for their health.
"It is important for people living with hepatitis liver disease, to be brave and be strong and to be curious, to find out more about their liver health and to seek help, when there are no symptoms we're fine."
