When Kiah Glasson was diagnosed with hepatitis C, she was pregnant.
"I'd been feeling exhausted, a bit depressed and was homeless. The symptoms could have been anything," said Miss Glasson, a Newcastle drug and alcohol peer support worker.
"Once I'd had my daughter Indi about 12 months later, I did treatment."
The hepatitis C treatment had gone on the PBS in 2016, around the time she needed it.
"It involved taking pills and was over and done with in eight weeks. Luckily, I didn't have to deal with any of the awful side effects that came with the old treatment."
She shared her story to mark World Hepatitis Day on Tuesday.
Hepatitis NSW is aiming to eliminate viral hepatitis and strengthen efforts to prevent liver disease and cancer across the state.
While NSW has made substantial progress in reducing hepatitis C cases, hepatitis B continues to be a major public health concern.
Almost 78,000 people are estimated to be living with chronic hepatitis B in NSW. Many of these people are not receiving the regular care needed to prevent severe disease.
In Hunter New England, there were 90 hepatitis B cases and 221 hepatitis C cases recorded last year.
Miss Glasson is open about being a former intravenous drug user. She was careful not to share needles, but believed she accidentally contracted hepatitis C in this way.
She now does "lived experience" work with Hepatitis NSW, using her knowledge to help others with problematic substance use.
"The main group at risk for hep c is the injecting drug user population, but any blood-to-blood contact such as tattoos, fighting and sport is a risk," she said.
She said hepatitis C treatment wasn't always available to drug users in the past.
"They didn't want to waste their time, money and effort on people who would expose themselves to the same risks," she said.
"There was criteria you had to meet. You had to prove you were not using drugs for an extended period and say all the right things."
Things have changed now.
"These days we treat everyone that comes back with a positive test, regardless of where they're at in life - jail, hospital, or working a six-figure salary job," she said.
"It's perfectly even across the board for access to those medications."
Hepatitis B and C are transmitted through blood-to-blood contact, but Hepatitis C can be contracted very rarely through unprotected sex.
Hepatitis NSW chief executive Steven Drew said "expanded testing, treatment and harm reduction initiatives have transformed outcomes for many people affected by hepatitis C".
"Critically and disappointingly, we are failing to meet almost all hepatitis B elimination targets at this time and it is highly unlikely we can achieve elimination before 2040. This is deeply concerning and highlights the need for urgent prioritisation of hepatitis B," Mr Drew said.
"More than 160 people die every year in NSW from hepatitis B-related liver cancer. These deaths are often preventable through timely diagnosis, monitoring and treatment.
"We have the tools, knowledge and partnerships needed to save lives."
Mr Drew said determination was needed to "finish the job and ensure that everyone affected by viral hepatitis in NSW can live free from stigma, preventable illness and avoidable loss".
