Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: It's estimated that 45,000 New Zealanders have hepatitis C but only about half of those know they have it. Symptoms don't appear until much of the damage has been done, and without treatment many people will develop progressive liver damage. The availability of the drug Maviret has been a real game-changer and has helped around 4,500 New Zealanders since it was funded by Pharmac in 2019. But funding medicines alone won't achieve elimination. We need to make sure we find everyone who is at risk of or who has hepatitis C and offer to test them and treat them if necessary.