Vicki Bagnara delayed receiving treatment for a silent disease for a decade after witnessing her partner's traumatic death.
Shrouded in uncertainty and facing mounting stigma, she felt isolated while her hepatitis C worsened with each passing day.
"When I was diagnosed with it the '80s, they didn't have a name for it," Ms Bagnara told AAP.
"The scariest part of the diagnosis for me was how it might have affected other people."
Unaware that a less invasive treatment existed, Ms Bagnara hesitated to seek help after her partner became unwell from interferon treatment and later passed away.
"For many of us, older treatments like interferon were traumatic and came with serious side effects," the 62-year-old said.
"Those experiences have kept people away from getting treatment for years, just like they did for me.
"But the treatment today is simple, short-term. Many people are still living with hepatitis C, thinking treatments will be as hard as they used to be."
But it's not just the treatment itself keeping people away from seeking help, it's also the stigma, Ms Bagnara said.
"There's self-shame, and then when you get that from outside, it's debilitating," she said.
A report released on Wednesday warns thousands of people will miss out on being cured of hepatitis C unless elimination targets are met.
Modelling shows there would be $1.17 billion in avoidable costs, including $202 million from lost workforce participation, premature death and ongoing healthcare costs, if hepatitis B targets are not met.
Costs would be closer to $1.4 billion for missing hepatitis C targets.
Disease management costs associated with delayed or missed diagnosis and monitoring are linked to why targets are not being reached.
"The modelling constitutes both cause for concern and major opportunity," Hepatitis Australia chief executive Lucy Clynes said.
"But if we build the momentum over the next four years, we'll be able to reach those elimination targets, save lives, spare thousands of Australians from suffering and save billions of dollars."
Ms Clynes believes the future is hopeful for people living with the disease, adding treatments for hepatitis B can be effectively managed and hepatitis C can be cured with a short course of tablets.
Chris Wallis, who works in prevention and treatment within the prison systems, said strategies that reach priority populations remove barriers to testing, care and treatment.
People seeking help were usually forthcoming when a safe space was available, he said.
"It's still hard to believe there's people in Australia living with hepatitis C that are still experiencing stigma," Mr Wallis added.
Infectious Diseases clinician researcher Jane Davies has successfully closed the gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with hepatitis B in the Northern Territory.
Nearly 1000 Australians are estimated to have died from hepatitis B and hepatitis C in 2023.
More people taking a blood test would shrink hepatitis-linked liver cancer and failure deaths moving forward, Professor Davies said.
"You can prevent those things by knowing about the virus and accessing the appropriate treatment," she said.
