Podcasts about hepatitis victoria

After nearly a decade at the helm of firstly Hepatitis Victoria and then LiverWELL, Melanie Eagle has announced that she will leave the organisation. Melanie has brought decades of experience in community, advocacy and management, and under Melanie's leadership, LiverWELL has grown significantly.

Martin Forrest is the Health Promotion Programs Manager at Hepatitis Victoria. Martin is committed to the elimination of viral hepatitis and has seen the toll that the disease has on the community. Martin has worked supporting primary health in Victoria as well as many years in the Northern Territory, particularly with Aboriginal and remote communities. For elimination to be successful, the whole community needs to be engaged. Martin is privileged to be able to contribute to this outcome and save lives in the process.

Amanda Li Hromin works as a community advocate supporting health promotion, community engagement, education programs and community awareness campaigns for the Victorian Chinese community in relation to viral hepatitis B and C prevention and related liver cancer prevention. She was nominated by Hepatitis Victoria for the Council on the Ageing Senior Achiever Award 2019, for which she was the deserving recipient. In this short podcast, Amanda talks about why she volunteers for Hepatitis Victoria and other organisations and what is the best way to communicate important health messages to the Chinese/Australian community.

This is the audio of the section in Hepatitis Victoria’s Annual General Meeting on 15th October, where the winners of the annual awards were announced. Community Participation Coordinator, Steph Houghton read the nominations and Hepatitis Victoria president Frank Carlus announced the winners. There were three nominations for the Organisation Collaboration Award, the Chinese Cancer and Chronic Illness Society of Victoria, IIbijerri Theatre Company and Forensicare, (the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health). Forensicare, received the award for its tireless work across the health sector making progress against the unacceptably high levels of hepatitis C inside. There were three nominations for the Individual Contribution Award, Cr Lucinda Congreve, Mayor of Brimbank, Marion Lau and Sambath My, all of whom are already HEP Heroes, with Marion Lau receiving the award. There were two nominees for the prestigious Mark Farmer Memorial Award for advocacy; Aboriginal elder, actor, musician, potter and activist Uncle Jack Charles and Councillor Youhorn Chea, the former Mayor of Dandenong. Uncle Jack was this year’s winner in recognition of his advocacy for people living with hepatitis C, his passion and encouragement of people to be tested and seek treatment.

Lewis Stieven-Taylor is a La Trobe University student studying for a Bachelor of Health Science majoring in rehabilitation counselling. As part of his course, he is required to complete 80-120 hours of a work placement as an intern which he completed at Hepatitis Victoria focused on health promotion. Lewis says his internship exceeded his expectations in many ways. “For anyone with an interest in health promotion I would highly recommend they look into Hepatitis Victoria because it has been, at every step, fun engaging and extremely educational. I have come on leaps and bounds in my knowledge of health promotion and improved a lot of the related skills that come with it,” says Lewis. “On top of that, the mentor-ship here from my supervisor Ali has been phenomenal, he has been at every stage, very open and aware of the tasks he is setting me, making sure I understand what is expected and always available for me to ask questions. He has also tailored the tasks to ensure they are beneficial for my future career, and also to a help achieve the academic aims of the university.”

Sidney Vo is appealing a Federal Government decision, based on her hepatitis B status, that means she and her 12-year-old son Billy have to leave Australia by the end of the month. Her case has been widely publicised and by mid-September an online petition of support had received over 22,000 signatures. Sidney’s experience has galvanised her to speak out. She signed up to become a Hepatitis Victoria HEPSpeaker and stepped out of training to record a short Hepatitis Victoria podcast. Sidney speaks about her situation and in particular the unexpected stigma and discrimination she has experienced since going public. “Its not fair for people like us to get discriminated against,” she says. “We didn’t choose to have this disease -I call it an ailment- it’s not serious if we take care of it, and what we need is more people to take the test.” Only 7% of people living with hepatitis B in Australia are getting treated while the other 93% of people “…are hiding maybe because of the stigma and discrimination, they don’t want to tell doctors they have hepatitis B.” “I feel like a victim of old-fashioned guidelines…” Sidney says. “It's not only myself, after I went public I was contacted by people who are now overseas who say they had the same situation but left Australian with talking about it, maybe because of the stigma. “If every chose to pack up and go who would be the one to stand up for us? I am doing this not just for myself but for the hepatitis B community.”

Tuesday Breakfast 10 Sept 2019 With Ayan, George and Anya 7.00 am Acknowledgement of Country7.05 am George Maxwell on the latest in news 7.20 am We speak to Aran Thingsatrandom, a first time playwright but long time buffoon (self-described) trying to explore & skewer parts of humanity rarely seen in pop culture in his upcoming play “The Aussie Ethnic Identity Crisis”.7.40 am We speak to Joshua Badge, philosopher, queer activist, and lecturer at Deakin University, about the draft Religious Discrimination Bill 2019 and why we should be concerned about its implications, particularly on the LGBTIQA+ community and on reproductive freedom. 8.00 am Isabelle Purcell from Hepatitis Victoria joins us to discuss new changes to immigration health requirements and what this means for visa applicants.   8.15 am We speak to Anne McLeish, Director of Kinship Carers Victoria, about why kinship care is so important, and how community members can assist kinship carers. Kinship Carers Week runs from 8 - 14 September.   Songssong: Nina artist: Rapsodysong: Queenartist: Hyclass  song: Black artist: Buddy ft. A$AP Ferg song: Drowning artist: Miiesha 

Kai Wen Cheong is a studying for his Master's in Social Work at the University of Melbourne and for the last three months he has been a Hepatitis Victoria intern. In a short interview he speaks about his experience and what he has learnt. "I feel blessed as I am literally enjoying every minute at Hepatitis Victoria... we are doing something really good for the community." Kai's internship has provided him with many varied and surprising experiences, meeting people from all over Victoria and from all walks of life. "One of my favourite quotes is from Mother Theresa, '...not all of us can do great things, but we can all do small things with great love..' The role of the intern of the intern or volunteer allows us to do something good for humanity," Kai says.

"The Elimination of Viral Hepatitis as a Public Health Threat – Think Global, Start Local." Professor Margaret Hellard AM is a Deputy Director at the Burnet Institute, Head of Hepatitis Services in the Infectious Diseases Unit at The Alfred Hospital and an Adjunct Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology at Monash University and the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia. Professor Hellard was recently awarded an Order of Australia. Margaret's principal research interests are in preventing the transmission and improving the management of blood borne viruses and sexually transmitted infections, with the ultimate aim to end the AIDS epidemic and eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat. She has considerable experience in undertaking multidisciplinary community based research involving people who inject drugs (PWID), gay and bisexual men (GBM) and other vulnerable populations. Margaret is a member of numerous advisory committees and working groups on viral hepatitis and HIV within Australia and globally, including Co-Chairing the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on HIV and Viral Hepatitis and Chairing the World Innovation Health Summit Viral Hepatitis Forum (20198).. She has over 400 peer reviewed publications and received over $80 million in competitive grants and tenders. Frank Carlus - President Hepatitis Victoria Frank is a former state public servant with over 32 years' experience in the Department of Human Services/Department of Health. In that time he worked in direct care, policy and senior management positions across a range of services. He has served on the Board of Hepatitis Victoria since 2013 in various roles including Treasurer and President. He also sits on, and is current Chair of, the Board of Westgate Community Initiatives Group (a disability services employment provider). Previously he served on the Colac District Hospital for 10 years, including as President for 2 years.

Will Scott has worked as both a volunteer and staff member at Hepatitis Victoria. In this short interview he reflects on what he has learnt and gained from working for a dynamic and fast-paced non-for-profit. He also talks about his own personal experience of overcoming viral hepatitis, and gives advice for those thinking of volunteering or working for the organisation.

"You could stand in a bucket of infected blood and still not catch the infection...as long as you don't have any cuts on your feet." That's one of the little anecdotes Steven Taylor uses to illustrate how viral hepatitis can only be passed from one person to another through infected blood. Steven has worked at Hepatitis Victoria as a volunteer, performer and now Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) Workforce Training Officer. Steven presents the facts about viral hepatitis in a two-hour summary, to organisations in the AOD sector. He talks about his new job, what the training involves and why there is a "...real need in the AOD community for this kind of information." If you would like to contact Steven to invite him to train your organistion call 03 9385 9101 or email Steven@hepvic.org.au

Neylan Aykut is a health promotion officer at Hepatitis Victoria whose job mainly involves working in Victoria's prisons combatting viral hepatitis. Neylan talks about the challenges of working in custodial settings, and some of the surprising -and inspiring- things she has learnt. "I really enjoy working in prisons," she says. "People inside respond very well to being spoken to with respect, they speak with candour and the sessions are great." Neylan uses art as a teaching aid in some of her sessions, an approach she says brings multiple benefits.

"It's great to look back and feel like you have made a meaningful contribution to public health before having entered the workforce..." so says Robbie-Lee Stephen an intern at Hepatitis Victoria studying for a Master of Public Health at the University of Melbourne. Her intern project, led by Community Engagement and Education Project Manager Aurora Tang, is a new community initiative, the Chinese Health Promotion Coalition launched on 23 September at Melbourne Town Hall. Robbie talks about her role and its key priorities with the overall goal being the elimination of viral hepatitis B and related liver cancer within the Victorian Chinese community. The Chinese community in Victoria is 10 times more likely to have chronic hepatitis B and 6 times more likely to develop preventable liver cancer.

Do you know how you get Hepatitis? Do you like to travel? Have you been considering getting a tattoo overseas? Do you know if you have Hepatitis? Do you work with patients in a healthcare environment? Are you the type of person that if you witnessed an accident you would step in to try to help someone in need? I know I would answer ''yes'' to some of these questions mentioned above. If you also found yourself also saying ''yes'' to a few of these questions too then take a minute out of your day or night and educate yourself and listen to this podcast on hepatitis. In 15 mins learn from a leading Hepatolgist about Hepatitis A-B-C. According to Hepatitis Victoria, ''500 000 Australians are living with Hep C and B''. Shockingly, 65% of us don't know that we have it. Diagnosing and managing a disease is about educating ourselves about it. Did you know there was for instance, different types of Hepatitis - Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis D and Hepatitis E. You can listen on the go to MeditalkPodcast on iTunes, SoundCloud and your trusty Podcasts App. Meditalk provides medical information in a way that you can understand and I interview well respected medical specialists and health professionals on health & medical topics we should know more about so, we can make more informed decisions about our health and the health of our family. This MediTalk podcast is on 'Hepatitis' and I speak with A/Prof Lindsay Mollison a Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist as well as, having qualifications in Infectious Diseases. Dr Mollison consults at Riverview Endoscopy. Find out more about Dr Mollison and his A-B-C Liver Clinic: www.riverviewendo.com.au For further information and support about Hepatitis: WA listeners can contact Hepatitis WA www.hepatitiswa.com.au Australia wide Hepatitis Association contact: www.hepatitisaustralia.com For American listeners - Hepatitis Support liverfoundation.org In major cities around the world there are often excellent Hepatitis-Liver Foundations to provide education and support - search online to find an association near you. Listening and learning more about Hepatitis via this podcast is a great start and always reach out and speak with your doctor if you are concerned and need medical help.

Emily Male and Amy Hatfield are Monash University students working as interns at Hepatitis Victoria. Emily also does volunteer work with Fitzroy Legal Service. They both have an interest in law reform. Their research at Hepatitis Victoria explores stigma and barriers people face post-cure of hepatitis C. in particular The Australian Red Cross Blood Service Blood Donation Guidelines.

In Peter's experience working with and being involved in the lives of people who have used drugs, he has always maintained a core value of “not judging people and treating them as anyone else”, says Peter Higgs, a social researcher, university lecturer, and former president of Hepatitis Victoria. Read on or listen to his story: http://www.hepvic.org.au/page/1294/peters-stigma-story

Dr Paul Gow is a Liver Specialist at the Austin Hospital and the Chair of Hepatitis Victoria's Liver Health Advisory Committee, a group looking at expanding the work the organisation does beyond viral hepatitis. One in three Australians have fatty liver disease, he says, a looming health crisis for the country. Meanwhile, there are a long list of other liver-related diseases for which there is little knowledge or practical support for the general public. "The changes we have seen in the last 20 years are miraculous... this means there is space for Hepatitis Victoria to broaden its remit and potentially offer services to people with other liver problems".

A recovering addict, Paul's sponsor, Jack, was initially attracted to the recovery community by the huge amount of sex available. From the hard grind of those early years, Jack has gone on to become an activist, researcher and policy writer fighting for those affected by addiction, hepatitis, HIV and AIDS. Dubbed a 'Hep Hero' by Hepatitis Victoria, Jack has obtained a PhD and ongoing research funding to pursue his ambition of changing the world for the better.

Melanie Eagle the CEO of Hepatitis Victoria has a chat ahead of World Hepatitis Day for 2018

In this month’s stigma story we hear from Jarrod McMaugh, a health professional who works as a pharmacist in the north of Melbourne. Jarrod is also a board member at Hepatitis Victoria. In his day to day Jarrod is treating patients with opioid replacement therapy like methadone or suboxone. Among other disparities, hepatitis C and liver health are common concerns for this population. “There’s no reason to treat any person different. Stigma has a huge impact on people’s health outcomes”, he says.

Steven Taylor says volunteering for Hepatitis Victoria," gives you a chance to put your money where your mouth is, to give you some responsibility, to make you feel a bit better about the world you inhabit." As for being a HEP Hero, he says,"...when you share your story it helps you reflect on what you have been through."

Melanie Eagle, CEO of Hepatitis Victoria has recently returned from the Global Hepatitis Summit in Toronto, Canada. A few weeks before, while on a personal trip, she spent time meeting groups dealing with viral hepatitis in Georgia, a Central Asian republic. Her trips give her a unique perspective on how the global battle against viral hepatitis is faring. In this short podcast, she reflects on what she learnt at the Toronto summit, and the circumstances that make Georgia's battle so unique. Despite the progress that is being made in some countries,"...if the pressure is taken off, it is clear the goal of global elimination (by 2030)will slip further downstream," she says.

Annie and Carla have not one but two special guests for Support Don't Punish Day on 26 June. Sione Crawford is the CEO of Harm Reduction Victoria, prior to this he had a career with Hepatitis Victoria and NUAA. Kate Seear is at Monash University where she is an ARC DECRA Fellow, a practicing solicitor, an Associate Professor in Law and an Academic Director of the Springvale Monash Legal Service. For more info:https://csrh.arts.unsw.edu.au/research/podcast-speakeasy-with-annie-madden-and-carla-treloar/

A healthy life means looking after your heart, taking care of your gut and loving your lungs. But your liver needs your love too! Hepatitis Victoria’s Love Your Liver-Regional health awareness campaign is being rolled out in Shepparton and progressively in Dandenong, Frankston, and Moe over the coming months. It will then be released in Brimbank, Maribyrnong and Mildura next year. The new slogan “Your liver needs your love, too” encourages people to think not only of their heart, lungs and intestines, but also of their hardest-working organ –and one of the only ones able to regenerate itself- the mighty liver!

Chris Carter is the CEO of North West Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN) and a Hep Hero. “Primary Health Networks can show leadership around advocacy, ensuring the message around blood-borne diseases, STIs and hepatitis gets forward in the public domain at the federal, state and community level,” he explains. “The challenge is trying to get viral hepatitis front and centre and PHNs have a couple of roles; analysis of what is happening in the catchment and filling the gaps… we’re both a planner and a funder,” he says but it is a complicated problem to tackle. “Stigma is a huge problem in terms of viral hepatitis and it is linked to so many other domains of human behaviour. Many people in our catchment are from cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds, so often there are cultural and linguistic barriers: overlay that with GPs who may not be confident to talk about viral hepatitis because of their own belief system, (all this) makes it tricky for people to raise the issue and tackle the virus,” he says. Chris talks about further steps that need to be taken if we are to achieve ambitious 2030 state goals for the total elimination of viral hepatitis. These include the need for more engagement from federal and state government in the prevention space. Finally, he discusses the impact of recent awareness campaigns such as ‘Love Your Liver’ funded by NWMPHN and developed by Hepatitis Victoria.

Melanie Eagles - CEO of Hepatitis Victoria - Talking about: A visit to the Hospital: Pam's #StigmaStops story:- Pam’s story is the 2nd instalment of our Stigma Stories series where she tells of her experience while undergoing a surgical procedure & LIVERBility GrantsRichard Amon- CEO Disability Sport & Recreation - Letting us know what the organisation is all about and it's role in promoting health outcomes for people with a disability and the challenges that you or people with a disability may be facingBrad Martin- Founder and Managing Director -  Indigenous Connection- As the social enterprise Indigenous Connection digitally launches tonight with the hope of  setting out to better connect Experience Seekers with Experience Provider #IndigenousConnectionLocal Spokesperson from the 'Sorrowbe' Campaign speaks with Kroft up on the Gold Coast at the Stolenwealth Games Camp Freedom about protecting koala habitat against over development. This campaign is using the koala logo and Borobi mascot concept to get the message for koala conservation across.  

#StigmaStops Stories is a monthly series from Hepatitis Victoria were we talk with people living with hepatitis about their experiences facing stigma. Allan Dumbleton is a HEP Hero who was recently cured of hep C. This is his story.

Hep Hero Margaret Hellard on the stigma people face living with hepatitis by Hepatitis Victoria

James & Yvette interview curator Catherine Barrett about Never A Crime, a Midsumma photo exhibition by Lisa White & Alice's Garage, depicting men who have had their convictions expunged by Victoria's Government for consensual sex with other men.  Melanie Eagle from Hepatitis Victoria discusses Victoria's Hepatitis A outbreak and the free vaccinations programme announced by the Victorian Government. 

Art Inside 2017: Educating prisoners about viral hepatitis through self-expression   “People in prison are at least 20 times more likely to have hepatitis than the rest of the population and we think at least a quarter of the prison population has hepatitis C, but not everyone gets tested and the number with the virus is likely to be higher”.   Health Promotion Officer Sione Crawford is managing the second year of Art Inside, a project run by Hepatitis Victoria in partnership with Justice Health, the part of Corrections Victoria responsible for health and well-being of prisoners. The goal is to create a resource illustrated with prisoners art work to help educate their fellows about viral hepatitis. Justice Health recognises the virus as an important health issue inside that must be tackled.

Tilman Ruff is one of Hepatitis Victoria's latest HepHeros. He has spent the past 20 years fighting to get hep B vaccinations to vulnerable populations in the Asia Pacific. "For about 20 years I assisted national immunisation programs in Pacific island countries with hepatitis B control and more broadly, working with WHO and UNICEF," Tilman says. "Now I serve on an expert committee on hepatitis B control for the Western Pacific Region of WHO, helping countries check how their immunisation and hepatitis B control programs are going and working with them to figure out how to make them work better." Tilman was a founding member of the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which was recently awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. "Like hepatitis B, nuclear war can be prevented and nuclear weapons eradicated," he says.

Frank and Melanie both gave moving talks about what they see as the progress and challenges for the hepatitis community in the coming months and years.

Sione Crawford is a Health Promotion Project Officer at Hepatitis Victoria. He recently attended the 6th International Symposium on Hepatitis Care in Substance Users, held in New York. He talks about the insights he gained from the symposium, including the vastly disparate ways treatment is provided in different parts of the world, and the United States, and how stigma and ignorance is preventing treatment and killing thousands of people every year.

Listen to the first part of our discussion with Garry Sattell from Hepatitis Victoria. In this segment we cover: Hepatitis C awareness week coming up in end of July Differences between Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Discussion on latest data

Listen to the second part of our discussion with Garry Sattell from Hepatitis Victoria. In this segment we cover: Hepatits C and HIV co-infection

Listen to the third part of our discussion with Garry Sattell from Hepatitis Victoria. In this segment we cover: New research and drugs available for those with Hepatits C and HIV co-infection. Hepatis C support group at Hepatitis Victoria.