In the Media

Down With Hepatitis

A CURE-A-COUNTRY production:
Half the hepatitis in the world is in the Pacific region. Someone dies needlessly every minute or so. Niue has eliminated hepatitis- we celebrate and inspire with our documentary Down with Hepatitis

(WHA) presents hepVoice, a monthly magazine with updates on the latest projects

World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) presents hepVoice, a monthly magazine with updates on the latest projects, news from WHA members and key developments in the field of hepatitis.

Overseas entrepreneurs supercharged Kiwi’s plan to rid Niue of hepatitis B and C

Dunedin hepatitis campaigner Hazel Heal says her plan to rid Niue of hepatitis B and C was supercharged by international connections made through the Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF).

Project to test entire Niuean population for hepatitis

Curing a disease is one thing, but Dunedin hepatitis campaigner Hazel Heal has set her sights higher.
She wants to cure a country.

Project to test entire Niuean population for hepatitis

The News is all Good about Hepatitis C

I should not be alive to write this. It took a medical miracle, the world’s first ever cure for a virus, and some close timing. It also took me pushing back on the pervasive stigma.

Year in Review: A cure for hepatitis C

Hazel Heal is a mother, a wife, a newly qualified lawyer, and no longer has hepatitis C. This is a message she is proud to share with everyone.

A Gilead Tale: Big Pharma drug prices kept in check by generic imports

America should follow Australia’s example and keep Big Pharma in check – and medicine available at reasonable prices – by supporting the import of generic versions of key drugs such as Gilead’s HepC cure. Hazel Heal tells her story.

1500 New Zealanders access a cure for hepatitis C

Over 1500 New Zealanders have started a new hepatitis C treatment in the last three months that could dramatically change their lives.

Kiwi butterflies get support as global symbol for elimination of Hepatitis C

A Kiwi not-for-profit group’s simple marketing tool to raise awareness about Hepatitis C – a multicoloured butterfly symbol – has attracted huge interest at an international liver conference.

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There’s a free cure for hepatitis C, but thousands of the infected don’t know it

Ed Gane has been instrumental in helping to find a cure for hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus that affects 170 million people worldwide and is a leading cause of liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver transplants.

HepCure – inspiring true stories/videos

HepCure is a public health campaign developed by the Addiction Practitioners Association of Aotearoa New Zealand (dapaanz) for the sole purpose of promoting the screening and successful treatment of hepatitis C infections involving historic exposure that remain either untreated or undiagnosed.

Hazel NZ Woman’s Weekly

This story was originally published by New Zealand Woman’s Weekly and is republished with permission.

We’ve finally got a treatment: Hep C drug now funded

Hep C Action Advocate Hazel Heal talks to Radio New Zealand on the impact of Pharmac funded Maviret, available to all from 1 February 2019.

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Hepatitis C survivors celebrate new funding

The Hep C Action Aotearoa team were in Auckland at the beginning of February 2019 to celebrate the release of funded pan-genotypic drug treatments that have now removed the financial barrier to accessing treatment.

Drug to “completely eliminate” hepatitis C now fully funded and on shelves

Hepatologist Professor Ed Gane discusses the impact fully funded pan-genotypic treatment will have.

Relief as hep C funding becomes available

The “modern lepers” of the health system have come in from exile. Hep C Action Aotearoa advocate Hazel Heal talks to the Otago Daily Times.

Hep C Action Aotearoa speaks to Radio New Zealand on treatment for all.

From February, the Hepatitis C drug Maviret will be funded by Pharmac which will help thousands of New Zealanders with genotype three of the virus, but it’s taken years of hard work from advocates to make it possible.

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Hazel Heal a finalist in the New Zealand Women of Influence 2018

There’s a multiple gold medal-winning athlete, a secretary of defence and an acting coach to Hollywood stars among the finalists announced today in the 2018 Women of Influence Awards.

Sophie Pascoe, Helene Quilter and Miranda Harcourt join 83 New Zealanders shortlisted not only for their achievements but their positive influence, in categories spanning business, the arts and community leadership.

The race to eliminate hepatitis C

New Zealand has 12 years to meet a World Health Organisation target to eradicate hepatitis C.

Standing in the way of achieving this is tracking down those with the disease, and publicly funding existing medication capable of curing it.

Hep C Treatment for all is here

Hep C Action Aotearoa is jubilant that a treatment that works for all types has been approved, available from 1 February 2019. With treatment soon available, the focus shifts to testing and awareness. HCAA is backing the policy shift from testing on a risk factor basis, to encouraging everyone to get tested, at least once.

One step closer to eliminating hepatitis C

Hep C Action Aotearoa welcomes the announcement from Pharmac to fund a medicine that will treat hepatitis C. This is great news for New Zealanders who have for years struggled to access funding for their treatment.

Juliant over drug funding

Dunedin hepatitis C campaigner Hazel Heal has received an early Christmas present: news Government drug-buying agency Pharmac will make medicine available to all people with the liver disease.