A new and potentially life-saving Hepatitis C screening programme is being trialled at seven Auckland pharmacies.
The Waitemata District Health Board-funded programme will allow people to take a simple finger prick test to check if they could have the virus.
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It takes less than five minutes, and lets people know if they should go on to have a follow up blood test at their doctor.
Around 500 participants, considered to be in the higher-risk categories, will take part in the pilot study - which is the first of its kind.
For Paul Adriaanse, who contracted Hepatitis C in the 1970s and lived with the virus for 40 years before being cured, it would have made things much simpler.
"It would have been incredible to come in, get a blood test, know you have it, and them say, 'By the way, we can cure you too'."
Massey Unichem Pharmacy is one of seven west and north Auckland pharmacies taking part in the trial. Pharmacist Martin Harris says he hopes people will find it more accessible.
"There's no appointment necessary, they can just see the pharmacist - probably the pharmacist that they know and they've already got a trusting relationship with."
Hepatitis C is an infectious blood-borne virus that attacks the liver, and can lead to liver failure and liver cancer. It's transmitted through blood to blood contact.
An estimated 50,000 New Zealanders are thought to have Hepatitis C, and only half know they are infected.
It's thought around 8000 people live with the condition within the Waitemata DHB boundary, and about 5000 of them are undiagnosed. Many who have the virus don't find they have any symptoms, but the most common is fatigue.
Waitemata DHB gastroenterologist and hepatology lead Dr John Perry says they want to stop the stigma around Hepatitis C.
"People may have contracted it if they've had a blood transfusion before 1992, if they've used intravenous drugs before, or if they've had tattoos or piercings from unreputed places."
The good news is it's curable - with the World Health Organisation wanting to completely eradicate the virus by 2030.
Dr Perry says with new medicine, the success rate of curing Hepatitis C will soon get even higher.
"Recently, we've been able to treat half the population with Hepatitis C, and it's about 97 percent success rate - in two months' time, we'll have treatment for everyone, and it will be a 99 percent success rate across the board".
In-pharmacy testing will be available from Thursday, just before World Hepatitis Day on July 28. If successful, it could be rolled out nationwide.
Mr Adriaanse is encouraging people who are worried, to get tested.
"It isn't a death sentence anymore - you can get it cured."
Newshub.
