| Membership | CaSH Newsletters |
| Membership Form | Workforce Education |
| Membership Newsletters | Alexander Maconochie Centre |
| Qualitative Reports | Canberra and Surrounds Hepatitis Network, CaSH |
Membership
Membership to the organization is FREE. Being a member of the ACT Hepatitis Resource Centre offers several benefits, some of these are outlined below:
- Quarterly newsletters
- Copies of new resources
- Invitations to seminars
- Invitation to the end of year Christmas function
- Voting rights at the AGM
- Ability to apply to become a Board of Management Member
- Quarterly copies of Hepatitis Review and Transmission magazines produced by Hepatitis NSW
By becoming a member of the ACT Hepatitis Resource Centre you help us to ensure that the Canberra community becomes more aware of Hepatitis issues and to help us represent people with Hepatitis, their family, friends, workers, and those who are at risk of contracting Hepatitis to governing bodies.
Membership Form
To download the Membership form click here. Fill it in and fax it to us on (02) 6230 6266
Membership Newsletters
To see Membership Newsletters click here
Qualitative Reports
To see 2010 Qualitative Report Click Here
Canberra and Surrounds Hepatitis Network, CaSH
The CaSH Network is a network of people who work with clients, families and friends, of those who have Hepatitis. The CaSH Network meets quarterly in various community venues in Canberra. The meeting facilitates the sharing of information between services and often includes an educational component. CaSH hosts an email list to keep workers informed of meeting and event activity, distribute minutes and to distribute the quarterly CaSH Newsletter. To add yourself to the CaSH email list or for further information contact Susan on 1300 301 383 or support@hepatitisresourcecentre.com.au
CaSH Newsletters
To see CaSH Newsletter 1 click here
To see CaSH Newsletter 2 click here
To see CaSH Newsletter 3 click here
To see CaSH Newsletter 4 click here
Workforce Education
To arrange workshops for your workforce on any Hepatitis Related issue click here
Alexander Maconochie Centre
- The principle of "equivalence of care" should apply to prison health services in Australia - it is cited by numerous international directives & recommendations. This principle obliges prison-based health services to provide prisoners with a quality of care equivalent to that provided for the general public.
- Hepatitis C is endemic in Australian prisons. National rates of hepatitis C antibodies in prison entrants are estimated to be 35% in 2007 (Butler). This rises to 50-70% amongst female prisoners (females are only 7% of all prisoners but are more likely to be convicted of drug-related crimes).
- There is an elevated risk of hepatitis C exposure in prison due to:
- the high population prevalence
- ongoing high risk behaviours e.g. sharing unsterile injecting drug equipment and receiving unsterile tattoos
- lack of access to methadone programs
- lack of access to the means of prevention e.g. NSPs and sterile tattooing.
- Blood spillage in a fight, barbering, unprotected sexual activity involving blood, and sharing of personal items such as razors and clippers may also be potential transmission routes for both hepatitis B and C in prisons.
- A number of researchers say prisons are the ‘powerhouse’ of the hepatitis C epidemic and say failure to control the spread of hepatitis C within prisons is a primary reason for the ongoing increases in population prevalence.
- Prison health is everyone’s business – the median sentence length in 2009 was 3 years, with 34% serving less than 2 years. Prisoners are released back into the community.
- Incarceration provides an opportunity to positively affect population health through hepatitis education, prevention and treatment programs.
- Two priority populations known to be at risk for hepatitis C exposure are significantly over represented in custodial settings: people who inject drugs and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (24% of prison population)
- Community based NSPs are highly cost effective and prison-based models have been effective in other countries.
- Access to hepatitis C treatment programs in prisons is patchy.
- The Hepatitis C Prevention, Treatment and Care: Guidelines for Australian Custodial Settings need to be fully implemented.
Prisons – Key Messages
- Prison health is everyone’s business; the failure to control the spread of hepatitis C within prisons is fuelling the hepatitis C epidemic within the general community.
- If we are to make any inroads into reducing both the number of Australians progressing towards severe liver disease and liver cancer, and the number of Australians being diagnosed with hepatitis C annually, prisons need to provide prisoners with access to treatment, needle and syringe programs and sterile tattooing equipment across all jurisdictions.
- For those prisoners currently undergoing hepatitis C treatment while incarcerated, it is vital that prison health services facilitate continued treatment when prisoners move between prisons, or re-enter the community.
The report entitled ‘With conviction: the case for controlled needle and syringe programs in Australian prisons’ was released as part of the Anex 2010 Australian Drugs Conference. Click here to see report.
