Australian CDC grants to tackle hepatitis B and STIs

Burnet Institute has been awarded almost $925,000 through the Australian Centre for Disease Control’s (CDC) Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections Research Program to support 3 projects aimed at strengthening Australia’s response to hepatitis B and sexually transmissible infections. 

The projects will focus on:

• improving hepatitis B surveillance and linkage to care
• identifying the most effective combination of STI testing approaches
• determining how Australia can make the greatest progress towards hepatitis B elimination. 

The CDC will support Connect B, a project designed to improve how hepatitis B surveillance and notification data is used to support people into care, and help them remain engaged with treatment. 

In Australia, more than 220,000 people live with hepatitis B, but many remain undiagnosed. Even when people are diagnosed, fragmented services can prevent them from getting ongoing care. 

Without continuity of care, people living with hepatitis B risk serious liver disease and poor health outcomes. 

Burnet research coordinator for Connect B, Nicole Matthews, said disease surveillance systems are not currently being used to their full potential to support linkages to care, but the project aims to change that. 

“Hepatitis B remains a major public health challenge in Australia, requiring sustained engagement to ensure people are monitored and treated when needed,” she said. 

Burnet Head of Modelling and Biostatistics, Associate Professor Nick Scott, will lead a separate project to identify the most effective and cost-effective mix of interventions to accelerate progress towards hepatitis B elimination in Australia. 

Using mathematical modelling, the work will examine how different interventions across hepatitis B care in Australia could be prioritised for investment.  

The modelling will examine hepatitis B burden, diagnosis, linkage to care and treatment across priority populations, and identify the combinations of interventions that could have the greatest health impacts. 

“National progress towards hepatitis B elimination has stagnated and is not equitable," Nick said.  

“Our modelling will aim to identify how limited resources can be spent to have the greatest impact on improving care and equity.” 

A second project led by Nick will identify the most effective and cost-effective combinations of STI testing interventions in Australia.   

The research will examine testing for syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea, and determine how different testing approaches can be combined to maximise their impact. 

STI testing interventions can include different care providers, such as GPs or sexual health clinics, as well as different pathways to getting tested, such as contact tracing or self-tests. 

While studies have analysed the cost-effectiveness of many testing interventions in isolation, this project will be among the first to consider how interventions could be combined into effective packages. 

The team will work with the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre to determine which combination of testing approaches for different population groups could make the biggest difference. 

“With such diverse STI testing needs throughout the population, understanding which testing options should be prioritised is a complex problem,” Nick said. 

The funding is part of the Australian CDC’s 4-year BBV and STI Research Program, which supports research to strengthen the evidence base for national policy, improve health outcomes and support the goals of Australia’s National BBV and STI Strategies.