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Economic evaluation of hepatitis C in Australia

This report is an economic evaluation of programs to control the hepatitis C epidemic. The evaluation considers the impact of five programs associated with hepatitis C prevention, education and control. Some programs exclusively target hepatitis C while others focus on other blood borne viruses.

Downloadable, printable version of Economic Evaluation of Hepatitis in Australia (PDF 715 KB)

This report Economic Evaluation of Hepatitis C in Australia provides a retrospective economic evaluation of the various government hepatitis C education and prevention programs between 1998 and 2005. The report consists of:

• a literature review;
• stakeholder consultations; and
• an economic analysis of the costs and benefits of hepatitis C programs.

It includes estimates of the costs of the proportion of people who currently have hepatitis C and the number of new cases diagnosed each year and the cost effectiveness of education and prevention strategies. The evaluation examines the harm reduction, prevention and education initiatives which aim to reduce the transmission of hepatitis C, with particular reference to the following programs:

• the Hepatitis C Education and Prevention Initiative;
• Needle and Syringe Programs funded by States and territories;
• The Council of Australian Governments Illicit Drug Diversion Supporting Measures for NSPs;
• State and territory funded hepatitis C programs; and
• National Public Health Base funding for hepatitis C.

The evaluation ultimately found that the Hepatitis C Education and Prevention Initiative produced modest cost benefits when evaluated in isolation, but in combination with other programs produced significant cost benefits, and that all of the programs were cost effective. Overall the evaluation found that while every dollar spent on the five programs combined created a benefit of about $4.90 and that every dollar spent on HCEP created a benefit of about $1.33.

The report concludes that there are significant returns available from investment in hepatitis C education, prevention and harm minimisation programs and that the set of five programs are very cost-effective, reducing the number of cases of hepatitis C at a low cost. In estimating the economic value of five sets of programs associated with controlling hepatitis C compared to the economic value of implementing only four sets of programs, without the Hepatitis C Education and Prevention Initiative, the report also concludes that the highest economic gain is from the combination of the five programs.

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