Back then, the blood-borne virus was a “small life sentence”.

“I was depressed – I thought, this is my life now, and it felt like every day I’d get up and I had to keep pushing myself,” he said.

That all changed three weeks ago when he started new direct-acting antiviral drugs, a 12-week treatment with a 95 per cent success rate in curing the disease.

“I’ve got a new lease on life; I feel like a teenager again,” Mark said.

“I’m even thinking differently and I’m a ball of energy.

“It’s such a small thing to do to get better.”

 Albury Community Health hepatitis C nurse Geoff Bartlett has been treating the 41-year-old and has been astounded by the recovery of his liver.

“We did a blood test prior to starting treatment and the level of inflation in his liver was quite high,” he said.

“In a bit over three weeks, his liver tests are just as good as anybody else on the street.

“You would never have seen that in the older treatments, which had a 75 per cent success rate at best.”

Previous 12-month treatment has been described as ‘arduous’ and 'terrible’, leaving many patients feeling depressed and even suicidal.

This compares to the new drugs, listed on the PBS in March 2016, that have near-to-no side effects and achieve above a 90 per cent success rate in just 12 weeks.

Despite these advancements, NSW Public Health Unit sexual health clinical nurse consultant Alison Kincaid said nowhere near enough people living with hepatitis C were taking up treatment.

“In the Murrumbidgee Local Health District, only 12 per cent of people who are estimated to be living with hepatitis C are taking up treatment,” she said.

“We want people who have ever injected drugs in their life, if they have never been tested, do so and get on to treatment. In the 1970s when heroin hit the streets, people my age would have been injecting one or two times and sharing equipment. 

“So many people would not know they are hepatitis C positive.”

Hepatitis Awareness Week runs until Sunday.

*Name has been changed for privacy reasons.