23 September 2025
Welcome to our new series, Webinar Wrap-Ups, where we attend sector webinars and distil the most relevant insights for those working to improve the health of people who use drugs. In this edition, we explore the link between mental health and hepatitis, two areas that are closely linked but far too often treated separately.
On 4 September, World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) and United for Global Mental Health (UGMH) hosted a webinar exploring integrated approaches to hepatitis C and mental health care. Hosted by Rachel Halford President, WHA and Yves Miel Zuniga Policy and Advocacy Advisor, UGMH. Speakers included:
- Bright Ansah – Hepatitis B patient advocate, #justB storyteller and co-host of the B Heppy podcast by the Hepatitis B Foundation, USA
- Tung Doan – Executive Director, Lighthouse, Vietnam, and Senior Advisor, Y+ Global
- Sabína Lužica Brédová – Director, OZ Prima and Dom Svetla Slovensko, Slovakia
- Benjamin Mutuku – Program Officer, Mental Health, LVCT Health, Kenya
INHSU’s marketing manager Brooke Nolan reflects on what stood out most. A big thanks to project officer Fabiana Porto who also attended and help shape these takeaways.
What was the core theme of the webinar?
The webinar highlighted how around half of people living with hepatitis C experience psychological challenges, while one in four people with hepatitis B suffer from depression or anxiety. It also drew on studies from HIV showing similar links between mental health and diagnosis.
The central message was that health cannot be approached in silos. Hepatitis, HIV, and mental health intersect with one another and with broader social determinants of health. Services that treat these conditions separately risk missing the real-life complexities clients face.
The event also marked the launch of WHA’s new Community Briefing on Understanding Hepatitis and Mental Health, which highlights how stigma and lack of access to mental health support can severely impact quality of life. The briefing calls for routine hepatitis testing in mental health services, better integration of care, and the full involvement of civil society and peers in designing solutions.
What gap, risk, or issue was highlighted that is often overlooked?
A recurring theme was the persistence of stigma and discrimination and how people living with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV often experience judgement that directly affects their mental health and willingness to engage with care. Without tackling stigma head-on, even the best-integrated services will fall short.
It was particularly powerful hearing firsthand from Bright Ansah who emphasised that conversations about hepatitis often focus only on the liver, ignoring the broader toll on mental, social, and emotional wellbeing. He described living with chronic fatigue, depression, and the anxiety that builds around regular monitoring tests.
For him, integration is about normalising mental health support in hepatitis care settings — offering counselling and peer support alongside clinical services, in spaces free of judgement. As Bright put it, “Hepatitis and mental health are two of the most stigmatised conditions and it’s important to shine a light on them.”
What ideas or innovations stood out that could change practice or thinking?
Each of the speakers shared tangible examples of models of care that aim to break down this stigma and link mental health and hepatitis care.
- Set up referral pathways: In Vietnam, Lighthouse Clinic has built referral pathways with psychologists and community-based mental health services, ensuring clients can access the help they need.
- Use technology: Digital tools are opening new doors for integration. Vietnam’s Rainbow Health Station is a user-friendly online map linking people to over 300 facilities nationwide. In Kenya, LVCT Health operates a toll-free helpline connected to geo-mapping software, which automatically refers callers to their nearest service.
- Go mobile: In Slovakia, OZ Prima and Dom Svetla Slovensko reach people through mobile clinics and drop-in services. These low-threshold models mean that stigma, poverty, or lack of transport don’t block access to care — especially for people who inject drugs, sex workers, and Roma communities.
- Harness the power of peers: Across all countries, peers were central. From lived-experience storytellers in the USA, to peer educators and youth leaders in Vietnam and Kenya, speakers showed how people with lived experience can break down stigma, build trust, and make services more responsive.
What does this mean in practice for people working in the field?
It means looking beyond a client’s diagnosis and seeing the full picture of their life. Mental health, hepatitis, HIV, poverty, housing, gender inequality, and stigma all intersect, so services need to respond with this in mind.
For practitioners, this could involve building partnerships with mental health providers, making sure that frontline staff are trained to have sensitive and non-judgemental conversations, and creating entry points that are flexible — whether that’s through mobile clinics, helplines, peer educators, or drop-in centres.
If there’s one thing to take forward from this webinar, what should it be?
That integration works best when it is backed by evidence and lived experience. As Kenya’s LVCT Health shared, policy reform is most effective when pilot projects, community feedback, and data on stigma and service uptake are brought into national and county-level guidelines.
Brooke’s final thoughts
United for Global Mental Health, shared research showing that integrating mental health into HIV programs could help nearly one million people avoid contracting HIV — the same number of infections currently predicted for 2026. The analysis found integration could speed up the reduction of HIV infections by 10–17%, with benefits far outweighing the costs. The same modelling showed that as many as 14 million TB infections can be avoided, a greater number than the total number of global infections in any given year
Imagine applying the same approach to hepatitis C. With almost half of people living with the condition facing psychological challenges, embedding mental health support could transform outcomes: helping people engage with testing and treatment earlier, preventing reinfection, and improving quality of life long after cure. Embedding mental health into hepatitis services improves adherence, outcomes, and trust in the system, and should be considered essential, not optional.
