Ron Briggs

Aboriginal Men’s Health

“I am a Hep Hero because I am passionate about promoting health and wellbeing in my community.” 

I started at Hepatitis Victoria about one year ago. I supported Hepatitis Victoria with working on raising awareness on issues in the Aboriginal community, as well as supporting my community in issues around hepatitis that affect us. It is important to me to get people not to be ashamed about talking about Hepatitis C. I found this a very useful piece of information to take back to my community.

I am on the Board of Directors at Hepatitis Victoria, and I have spoken about my own health issues regarding hepatitis. I am a person who went on the support program at Hepatitis Victoria and got cleaned up. And I wouldn’t have done that without a worker at the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS) that was in relationship with Hepatitis Victoria at the time.

I am very grateful for what happened and what I went through. I have seen men in the community pick up the videos that have been produced through Hep Vic (indeed, that I was involved in creating as well). Men are taking them home and watching them. It’s a really good tool for getting on the support program, if there’s hepatitis in the family.

As someone who contracted hepatitis 20 years ago and who went through the journey of seeking support, I am passionate about promote health and wellbeing and now supporting others in my community. I do a lot of men’s business in my community.

The first thing I promote is the health and wellbeing of my people. When we used to talk about hep C, I used to stare and say nothing… but I realized that if I am going to make a difference, I am going to have to sort my own health issues out. This has inspired other men in my community to seek the same support.