Author: diondkagan

Hepatitis C-related stigma and discrimination in a post-cure world – launch of a three-year national research project report
This week, the GLaD team released their summary report from the project on hepatitis C-related stigma and discrimination in a post-cure world, including 18 recommendations for policy, legal and practice reform. Read more and access the report here.
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Listen to ‘After Cure’ – a new documentary podcast about hepatitis C in the age of curative treatment
‘After Cure’ is a new documentary podcast from the post-cure lives research team that explores experiences of hepatitis C in the new treatment era.
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‘I’m not hep C free’ – new research explores the afterlives of hepatitis C
What does ‘cure’ mean for people when treatment doesn’t bring about an end to the social effects of a disease? Our latest article explores the afterlives of hepatitis C in the era of cure.
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Power, pain, ‘problem’ patients and practices of comparison – a Monash Health Humanities talk by Kate Seear
In a recent Monash Health Humanities, GLaD research lead Kate Seear drew connections between the ways in which people with endometriosis and people who use drugs are subject to stigmatising judgements regarding which patients are ‘genuine’ pain patients, deserving of care, and which are ‘non-genuine’, ‘drug seekers’ or ‘addicts’.
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The trouble with normalisation – new research on the mainstreaming of hepatitis C care and its impact on stigma
Our latest article investigates the mainstreaming of hepatitis C care – a process known as ‘normalisation’ – and whether it can reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with the virus.
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Post-cure and post-human rights – recent findings presented at the Australian Sociological Association conference
GLaD program lead Kate Seear and project officer Dion Kagan presented recent findings at The Australian Sociological Association conference earlier this month.
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Complicating cure
The law has the power to shape public understandings of hepatitis C infection, including how people with the virus understand themselves and their ability to avoid the stigma associated with it. The latest article from our project on the experiences of people treated for hepatitis C engages with the challenges posed by laws and policies devised in a pre-cure world.
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Listen to a showcase of important new research this World Hepatitis Day
To mark World Hepatitis Day in 2022, researchers in the GLaD and DruGS programs at ARCSHS got together with CEO of Hepatitis Australia Carrie Fowlie to share and discuss findings from three recent social research projects on hepatitis C. Listen to the conversation here.
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#HepCantWait, but the legacy effect of stigma and discrimination ‘doesn’t just go away’
Since late 2019, COVID-19 has been the global health crisis absorbing much of our attention. Efforts to respond to it, including the redeployment of people and resources, have necessarily had impacts on other public health programs and pandemics. The World Health Organization’s ambitious goal to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030 is one program that has been slowed and, in some places, stopped in its tracks by COVID-19.
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Post-cure lives – now recruiting
Seeking participants for research on people’s lived experience of hepatitis C cure
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Life after cure – preliminary findings from the post-cure project
What does life look like for people after they have cleared hepatitis C?
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Life after cure – preliminary findings from the post-cure project
What does life look like for people after they have cleared hepatitis C? Do people whose blood shows no detectable amount of the hepatitis C virus need to inform their doctor or dentist about their previous hepatitis C status? What about prospective employers or insurance providers? Does hepatitis C–related stigma and discrimination remain a challenge for people post-cure? In what ways, and in what settings?
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Hepatitis C cure and ongoing challenges in post-cure lives
Australia is spending billions on the universal rollout of direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAAs) as part of its ambitious goal of achieving virtual elimination of hepatitis C by 2030. These ‘revolutionary’, ‘transformative’ drugs can bring about a sustained virological response – that is, a cure – for hepatitis C in over 90 percent of people treated. They are available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for all Australians who are covered by Medicare.
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Social research project on hepatitis C and post-cure lives
In Australia, a new generation of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for the treatment of hepatitis C have been rolled out in a globally unique program of unrestricted, nationwide access. The new drugs, heralded as ‘revolutionary’, bring about a sustained virological response to hepatitis C in over 90 percent of people treated. By the end of 2019, […]
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Beyond a post-cure world
We are excited to announce the publication of the first article from the project, ‘Addressing hepatitis C-related legal, policy and practice discrimination in a post-cure world’.
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An interview with GLaD research lead Kate Seear
Australia has long been a leader in critical alcohol and other drug (AOD) scholarship. Much of this work draws on feminist theory, including feminist science studies, to identify and examine ideas about agency and materiality in drug policy and practice. Often, this work also prioritises issues specific to gender, such as how the law conceptualises links between drugs and family violence, or how it understands the relationship between alcohol and sexual assault.
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