Hep B Blog

Tag Archives: Hepatitis B Outreach

Hepatitis B Diagnosis & Monitoring

World Hepatitis Day Reflection: Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad Pakistan

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Thank you to Prof., Dr. Muhammad Sadik Memon, MBBS, FCPS (Gastro), FCPS (Med), MACP, MAGA,  for his personal reflection from World Hepatitis Day, 2012 events in Pakistan.

In order to raise awareness on World Hepatitis  Day, Saturday, 28th of July 2012, the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the Asian Institute Of Medical Sciences, organized a public awareness and open discussion seminar.

Gastroenterologists, family physicians, GPs, postgraduate students and para- medical staff all participated in the open discussion.

The program was started in the name of “Almighty Allah” and a recitation from the Holy Quran.

Dr Iqbal Haroon, Director of Hajiyani Hospital, was the moderator of the open discussion.

“It  is closer than you think” was the theme of this year’s World Hepatitis Day, and the open discussion focused on raising awareness on the different forms of viral  hepatitis: what they are, how they are transmitted, who is at risk, and the various methods of prevention and treatment.

Professor, Dr. Sadik  Memon, organizer of this event,  said that in Pakistan, many patients have lost their lives at the hands of quacks, so Pakistan needs the strictest possible laws to fight against these quacks, and must eradicate these deadly liver diseases.

Dr. Sadik Memon further described how in Pakistan millions of people are infected with HBV . He added that every 10th to 12th individual in the Pakistani population is infected with hepatitis B or C ,which far exceeds the numbers from the last big earthquake  in Pakistan. It is essential that Pakistani doctors unite to save human lives and spare them of these deadly diseases.

The most important aspects of prevention are hepatitis B vaccination, the screening of blood products, sterilized equipments and better hygiene standards in barber shops.

Dr. Waqar, focal person of the Government Hepatitis Program, discussed the efforts of the Sindh government regarding the hepatitis program.  He said that thousands of peoples from Sindh are receiving free interferon and anti- viral therapy from Zakat and Bait-ul-mal funds.

Before the end of open discussion Dr. Aamir Ghouri gave thanks to the audience, the guests of honor, and also the Roche Pharmaceutical company for sponsoring such a wonderful event in this blessed Month of Razman.

After completing the open discussion, DUA, (prayer) was performed for patients who are suffering from liver diseases by the Asian  Institute of Medical Sciences staff. Another open discussion was followed by Iftaar dinner. It was a memorable World Hepatitis Day.

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Raising awareness and Enabling Protective Action in an Affected Community in Australia: A work in progress…

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Welcome Guest Blogger Yvonne Drazic. She is a PhD candidate at James Cook University in Cairns, Far North Queensland, Australia. Her research focus is on reducing the rate of undiagnosed and untreated chronic hepatitis B, in migrant communities from endemic areas, particularly the local Hmong community. Yvonne lives with chronic hepatitis B, and feels privileged to be one of the less than 3% of hepatitis B cases treated in Australia. She gives back in so many ways, and is also a list parent on the HB-List, an online patient forum. 

As a research student from tropical Far North Queensland in Australia, I am grateful that today’s technology allows me to be part of the global hepatitis B community. My goal is to help our local Hmong community of about 700 people to prevent future repercussions of undetected and untreated chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Having CHB myself, I was amazed to learn how many people miss out on vital medical care because they are unaware of their infection, or of its potential consequences. At present, the incidence of hepatitis B-related liver cancer is rising in Australia because undiagnosed CHB is doing much more harm than newly acquired infections in adults. The majority of affected people in Australia are migrants from endemic areas and Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander people who were mostly infected at birth or in early childhood. Yet, less than 3% of cases are currently receiving antiviral therapy (Carville & Cowie, 2012).

I chose to focus on the Hmong community because studies in the U.S. show a particularly high CHB prevalence (~15%) in this population (Kowdley, Wang, Welch, Roberts, & Brosgart, 2011). And sure enough, when talking to members of the community, I heard sad stories of family members getting sick or dying from liver disease. Hepatitis B as a threat to public health has long been neglected in Australia, compared to the attention given to HIV and hepatitis C. However, based on a National Hepatitis B Needs assessment (Wallace, McNally, & Richmond, 2008) and other reports that showed an urgent need for a co-ordinated public health response, the first National Hepatitis B Strategy was finally released in 2010. The strategy highlights priority action areas such as raising awareness in patients and doctors, improving screening and diagnosis practices, and removing barriers in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations.

In Australia, pregnant women are routinely screened for hepatitis B. However, research suggests that many who test positive during pregnancy do not receive adequate follow-up care (Guirgis, Zekry, Yan, Bu, & Lee, 2009). In addition, recent studies indicate that CHB awareness is still low in Australian general practitioners (GPs), and that many patients are not managed according to guidelines (Dev, Nguyen, Munafo, Hardie, & Iacono, 2011; Guirgis, Yan, Bu, & Zekry, 2011). Therefore, in order to achieve improvements in early detection and timely referral for treatment, increasing GP involvement is a priority.

My project comprises (1) an assessment of knowledge, current practice, awareness of resources and educational preferences of local GPs; (2) assessments (pre- and post) and an appropriate intervention in the Hmong community (all based on behavioural theory); and (3) an assessment of pregnant women and new mothers. At the time of writing, data collection from GPs is under way.

Community engagement is, of course, an ongoing process. The project has the support of a community leader who is providing invaluable information about what may and may not work in his community. Initial information about the project was recently distributed. Building trust and showing that my motives are genuine takes time and it is important to let things develop instead of pushing ahead too fast. The fact that I have CHB myself may help to convey the message that it is okay and even necessary to talk about hepatitis B. Normalization assists in the removal of stigma.

More of my work to be shared in another blog. A big thank you to the special people who have been inspiring and encouraging me to do this work and keep offering tremendous, ongoing support.

Yvonne

References:

Carville, K. S., & Cowie, B. C. (2012). Recognising the role of infection: preventing liver cancer in special populations. Cancer Forum, 36(1), 21-24.

Dev, A., Nguyen, J., Munafo, L., Hardie, E., & Iacono, L. (2011). Chronic hepatitis B: A clinical audit of GP management. Australian Family Physician, 40(7), 533-537.

Guirgis, M., Yan, K., Bu, Y. M., & Zekry, A. (2011). A study into general practitioners’ knowledge and management of viral hepatitis in the migrant population. Internal Medicine Journal, Accepted article. doi: 10.1111/j.1445-5994.2011.02440.x

Guirgis, M., Zekry, A., Yan, K., Bu, Y. M., & Lee, A. (2009). Chronic hepatitis B infection in an Australian antenatal population: Seroprevalence and opportunities for better outcomes. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 24(6), 998-1001. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2009.05841.x

Kowdley, K., Wang, C., Welch, S., Roberts, H., & Brosgart, C. (2011). Prevalence of chronic hepatitis B among foreign-born persons living in the United States by country of origin. Hepatology, Accepted preprint.

Wallace, J., McNally, S., & Richmond, J. (2008). National hepatitis B needs assessment. Melbourne: Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health, and Society, La Trobe University.

 

 

Living with Hepatitis B

Join CDC and HBF for a World Hepatitis Day Twitter Chat

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Are you planning to join us for the World Hepatitis Day Twitter Chat on Friday, July 27th? The CDC and HBF will be hosting a Twitter Chat at 2 pm EDT.  Are you thinking, “What… me??  I don’t know how to use twitter!!” Well, get-on- board with twitter before July 27th and join us!

What is twitter?  Twitter allows you to stay connected or exchange short messages called tweets with friends, family, co-workers, organizations and partners, and the world at large. You can tweet from your computer, your laptop, i-pad or smartphone. You can use it to update your status on the go, or in HBF’s case, use it to educate and raise hepatitis B awareness.  We also use it to send out current or new information on hepatitis B and to make our resources available to others.  If you are a hepatitis B advocate, twitter is a great outlet to get your message out there.

What is a handle? Your twitter username is your handle. For example HBF’s twitter handle is @HepBFoundation. Handles are preceded with a @symbol. You can find us at www.twitter.com/HepBFoundation.

What is a tweet? A tweet is basically a short message or status that you post to twitter. You can compose a tweet by clicking on the blue compose button in the top right corner, or from the “Compose New Tweet” box (top left after you login) Tweets are kept at 140 characters or less. If you make your tweets about 10 characters shorter, you’ll leave room for others to easily retweet your messages.  Don’t worry. Twitter does the counting for you.

Your message can be just that – a message: “2 billion people in the world have been infected with #hepatitis B”, or you can add a reference to the source such as HBF’s website where you can find this quote  A URL shortener will be invoked to take that long URLs like  http://www.hepb.org/hepb/statistics.htm  and turn it into: http://ow.ly/ciWvu

What is a retweet? A retweet or RT is when you repost someone else’s tweet so it will be shared with your followers. It lets everyone know you like that message and lets you spread the word.  Retweeting is a great way to get started if you’re a little nervous about composing your own tweets.  To retweet, all you need to do is put your cursor over a tweet that you like, and you’ll see retweet highlighted. Click and you’ve just done your first retweet!

What’s a hashtag? A hashtag allows you to categorize messages in twitter.  You precede a keyword with a hashtag, or the “#” symbol, to note a topic of interest. I typically use simple twitter hashtags such as #hepatitis B, or #HBV in my messages so that others interested in HBV topics will see my tweets. Rather than put them at the end of a tweet, I typically work them into my message. For example: “There are 400 million people chronically infected with #hepatitis B in the world.” Lots of viral hepatitis followers are using the #hepatitis hashtag, so they are sure to see my posted tweet. The hashtag will allow them to easily search twitter from the search box (top right) in twitter and retweet my message.  It might also encourage them to follow me since hepatitis B is an interest that we share. When I see tweeps tweeting with the #hepatitis hashtag, I tend to follow them, and if they continue to post good content, I might even add them to one of my twitter lists.

What is a Tweep? A tweep is a twitter user.

Getting Started.  All you need to get started is an email account, a picture or logo (though twitter will assign you their default image if you don’t upload one, so don’t let that stop you.), and a statement about you or your organization.

Go to www.twitter.com and sign up for a new account. It’s really pretty simple. If you have your email and image ready to upload, you can be in and out in a few minutes. Twitter will walk you through the whole thing – nothing tricky!

So what should you do to become familiar with twitter? Assuming you plan to follow what’s new in the world of hepatitis B, our twitter chat on the 27th and viral hepatitis events beyond World Hepatitis Day, then consider a few things:

Who do you want to follow? Consider following viral hepatitis organizations like the Hepatitis B Foundation (@HepBfoundation), CDCs Division of Viral Hepatitis (@cdchep), World Hepatitis Alliance (@Hep_Alliance) or other favorite viral hepatitis orgs you may know. You may also consider following medical doctors, journalists, or viral hepatitis advocates you find out there in the big-virtual world. Don’t forget about the community at large. You’ll find others interested in hepatitis B by using the #hepatitis, #HBV or #worldhepday hashtags in the search box. Part of the goal is to educate and raise HBV awareness. At HBF, The world is our target audience. We are happy to follow, or be followed by anyone that is interested in hepatitis B.

Who will follow you? In the beginning, you’re not going to have a lot of followers. Don’t worry about it! Building a following takes time. Slowly but surely as you start participating, you will gain new followers. Start by “retweeting” someone you are following, and most likely they will follow you back if you are helping them get their message out.

The World Hepatitis Day Twitter Chat sounds great! How do I join the conversation? It’s simple. The Twitter Chat starts at 2 pm EDT on Friday, July 27th. Login to your twitter account and be ready to contribute. We will be using the #WHDchat hashtag for this chat. All you need to do is search twitter for the #WHDchat and it will generate a list with all of the tweets from the conversation. If you see a tweet that you like, retweet it.  If you’d like to contribute to the conversation with your own message, compose your tweet and be sure to add the #WHDchat at the end of your tweet or no one will see it.

That’s it! Join the conversation on July 27th at 2 pm EDT!

Living with Hepatitis B

What Are Your Plans for World Hepatitis Day?

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World Hepatitis Day is July 28th. Organizations and advocates around the globe are organizing viral hepatitis events to educate, screen, and raise viral hepatitis awareness in their communities.

World hepatitis Day was launched by the World Hepatitis Alliance in 2008. Last year, July 28th, the birthday of Dr. Baruch Blumberg was designated as the official World Hepatitis Day. Dr. Blumberg won the Nobel Prize in 1976 for his discovery of the hepatitis B virus, and development of the first hepatitis B vaccine. He was also an inspirational friend to the Hepatitis B Foundation.

Please take a look at the proposed World Hepatitis Day events occurring around the globe.  The chart is a work in progress, so let me know your activates for the day or days preceding World Hepatitis Day, and a contact point, and I’ll be sure to update the chart ASAP. Leave a comment or send your info to contact@hepb.org.  If you’re not planning an event, but would like to get involved, check out any events that may be near you. Countries are listed alphabetically.

Don’t forget to take advantage of the promotional campaign materials provided by the World Hepatitis Alliance. World Hepatitis Day really is “closer than you think”.

 

 

Country Event Contact
Australia Queensland:

  • Free lecture presented by Dr. Joshua Davis, speaking about his work with HBV in indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. Cairns.
  • Yarnin up HepB for Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander health workers to discuss all things HBV with Dr. Davis. Cairns.
  • “Hep Day Out” at CSHS features tours of the QuIHN van, an acoustic jam and more. Cairns
  • Hepatitis Indigenous Community Awareness Event, organized by Hepatitis Queensland. Brisbane.

Australian Capital Territory (ACT): WHD Community & Stakeholder Forum. Canberra.

New South Wales (NSW): Numerous community events, including Love your Liver or Healthy liver themed lunches and breakfast events; art themed events and workshops; general hepatitis health promotion events; and targeted events focussing on Indigenous communities, youths, prisoners, injecting drug users, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and tattooing.

Victoria (VIC): Spotlight on hepatitis B aiming to increase the capacity of community and health workers to include hepatitis B in their work; Street Shot photo exhibition and Love your liver lunch, using photography to educate young people about viral hepatitis

Western Australia (WA): Street Art exhibition targeted at youths; Love your Liver educational workshop and lunch; WHD Redbacks Basketball Game; CALD Community hepatitis B Workshop

 Cairns events:

Rhondda Lewis,

Ph. 0061742264761

Email:

 

rhondda.lewis@health.qld.gov.au
Bangladesh
  • Round Table discussion meeting held at National Press Club in Dhaka
  • Publication of awareness articles in national news dailies
  • Talk show on one of the local satellite TV channels
  • Printing and nationwide distribution of posters bearing logos of Viral Hepatitis Foundation Bangladesh, CEVHAP and WHA.
 Dr. Mamun-Al-Mahtab

www.drmahtab.org
Ghana Public disease awareness campaigns on radio and TV using KE drawn from the Theobald hepatitis B foundation Lectures and presentations targeting high schools, Market places and churches

Events will occur in Tamale 23-July, Kumasi 25-July, Accra 28-July

  • Floats through the principal street
  • Public disease awareness campaigns on radio and/or TV,
  • Free HBV screening for school age children and the public
  • Hepatitis B education presentation and materials
  • Possible fundraising through entertainment

Media programs to include:

  • Articles on hepatitis
  • Distribution of stickers, flyers and posters to hospitals, clinics, lorry stations and other public places
  • Press releases to all media houses
  • Interviews on Radio stations
  • Use of social media to educate people on hepatitis  (twitter, facebook)
 Theobald Owusu-Ansah

theobald2003@yahoo.com

+233-20-8269214 /  +233-247093893
Hong Kong Hepatitis B

  • Asiahep HK LTD will have a week-long promotion in public for HBV awareness with support from celebrities
  • A press conference is scheduled on 27 July with arrangement by FH. We will be launching our liver APPS and revamped website
  • Talks to doctors and public late June, and in Macau for a talk on 28 July

Hepatitis C:

  • Press Conference to introduce CEVHAP organization and announcement of World Hepatitis Day (July 22)
  • TV / Radio interview program to promote WHD (July to October)
  • Newspaper / Magazine health featuring articles on HCV (July – Nov)
  • Mini-Education video on chronic hepatitis C
 Dr. Nancy Leung

dr_nancyleung@yahoo.com.hk

 

 

 

Prof CL Lai

hrmelcl@hku.hk
New Zealand
  • A national campaign, beginning early July will have screen printed advertisements displayed on the back of public buses in all major cities of both the North and South Island.
  • Week before July 28th there will be a national radio campaign as well as advertisements in national publications including GP magazine.
  • July 26th there will be a rally on the grounds of the parliament. 1000 helium balloons, each representing NZers infected with viral hepatitis
 Hepatitis Foundation of New Zealand

www.hepfoundation.org.nz

 
Sweden
  • Manifestation: 580 Roses, Place Sweden, Jppsala University Hospital; Main entrance: Sjukhusgatan; Time: 28 July 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
 Kaj Johansson RN

http://www.facebook.com/hepatitisday.sweden.5
United States NYC – community orgs and hepatitis advocates celebrate WHD by hosting events across all 5 boroughs of NYC

 

Philadelphia- Viral Hepatitis Symposium for patients, families and members of the general public. http://www.liverfoundation.org/chapters/midatlantic/events/823/ Register today.

 http://www.facebook.com/NYCWorldHepDay

 

Delval@liverfoundation.org or Erica Stein at 215-425-8080
World Hepatitis Alliance
  • Join World Hepatitis Alliance as they celebrate World Hepatitis Day 2012 with their Guinness World Record: WHD 2012 by having the most people performing the “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” actions in 24 hours at multiple venues around the world.  Check out the details and get a group together for the
 http://worldhepatitisalliance.org/WorldHepatitisDay/GuinnessWorldRecord.aspx

 

 

 

Hepatitis B Advocacy, Hepatitis B Prevention

An Event-Filled Hepatitis Awareness Month for the Hepatitis B Foundation and Hep B United Philadelphia

Hepatitis Awareness Month has come to a close, and it has been one exciting, busy month for those of us at HBF and Hep B United Philadelphia. In the course of 6 weeks, we have had many of our major events of the year – nearly all featured during Hepatitis Awareness Month or on Hepatitis Testing Day.  Have a look at what we’ve been up to this past month…

HBF preceded the month with its annual, signature fund-raising event. The Crystal Ball was held April 27th and was a very successful, enchanted evening for all in attendance. HBF exceeded goals for the year, and we were pleased to honor Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), who was presented with the Baruch S. Blumberg Prize for his leadership in creating the HHS Action Plan for Viral Hepatitis.

The Hepatitis B Foundation was selected as this month’s featured partner by CDC NPIN. What a great honor, and a wonderful opportunity for HBF to showcase some of our programs, services and materials.

On May 15th, AAPCHO and HBF, with the support of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health, launched the Hep B United national campaign.  This unique partnering and collaborative effort will bring attention and action to end hepatitis B – especially among high-risk Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in the U.S. You’re going to see a lot of activity out of Hep B United...

HBF’s Director of Public Policy & Affairs set off to Washington D.C. to attend the Congressional Briefing on Chronic Viral Hepatitis and Liver Cancer hosted by our champions in Congress.  Keeping Hepatitis in the hearts and minds of our elected Representatives is paramount in supporting viral hepatitis efforts in our country.

Hep B United Philadelphia wrapped up its awesome “B A Hero” PSA video contest and finalists and winners were announced. Check out these great PSAs!

Hepatitis Testing Day and the days leading up to the event were extremely busy for the Hepatitis B Foundation, Hep B United Philadelphia, and Partners. We kicked off testing day with our awareness-raising Flash Mob Event in Love Park in Philadelphia. This fantastic event included special guests Mayor Nutter, and Councilman David Oh, and plenty of other notable Hep B Heroes in attendance.  It was an honor to receive a City Proclamation by Councilman Oh, supporting efforts to eradicate hepatitis B in the city of Philadelphia. And of course the students put their spin on the event with a “B A Hero” Rap. You have to listen to this...

Saturday, Hepatitis Testing Day, Hep B United Heroes donned their hero capes for the Hepatitis Testing Day Event held at the Asian Pacific Heritage Festival in Philadelphia. It was a successful event with 112 screened. Those screened and in need of vaccination will be provided with the HBV vaccination series, free of charge, from the Philadelphia Department of Health.

That same day, Hepatitis B Foundation heroes hosted HBF’s B Informed Conference. This year’s conference was specifically directed to parents of children with hepatitis B. This was an incredible full-day conference. Expert specialists in the field addressed both the medical issues and personal challenges of parenting a child with hepatitis B.  It was a wonderful opportunities for parents to meet and discuss, face-to-face, with families facing like challenges. Lasting bonds were created that day. You’ll want to check back at a later time to read a reflection on the day, and access information presented by our expert speakers.

And finally we end this month’s awareness efforts this weekend by participating in the Philadelphia Independence Dragon Boat Regatta. Team Philadelphia Hep B Heroes will (hopefully) row their boat to victory, but even if they don’t win, they are winners at heart. The team is composed not of an expert crew, but rather Hep B United Philly community partners, student partners and staff. If you’re in Philly, stop by and cheer the team to victory. Plenty of team members will be at the event to raise HBV awareness and discuss hepatitis B testing, prevention and treatment.

There were a lot of Hep B Heroes out there this month.  Feel free to share the events of your organization this month!

Hepatitis B Diagnosis & Monitoring, Hepatitis B Prevention, Living with Hepatitis B

National Hepatitis Testing Day. Why Should I Get Tested?

Saturday, May 19th is the first National Hepatitis Testing Day.  Viral hepatitis partners will be working together with local health departments and other community partners in to bring viral hepatitis testing events to a neighborhood near you. Hep B United Philadelphia and the Hepatitis B Foundation and other partners will be holding screening events in downtown Philly.

Why is hepatitis testing necessary? Hepatitis B is largely asymptomatic – until it is too late, or caught with blood donation screening, or lab work.  There are clearly defined risk factors for hepatitis B, or groups that are at greater risk, but there are also less clearly defined risks, or just bad luck. Think about this list and ask yourself if you might want to think about getting tested. If you are young, or when you were younger, was your behavior ever wild or impulsive? Are you a little older and you’re still a little impulsive, or occasionally wild? Did you ever get drunk, or do drugs – even once, or perhaps “lose a night”? Did you have unprotected sex, or do you have multiple partners? If you are monogamous, are you sure your SO is equally monogamous? Does a friend or family member possibly have a known or even an unknown infection? Maybe they know, but they aren’t telling you. Do you like traveling the world?  Outside of the U.S. there are some really wonderful places that have an extremely high HBV prevalence. Roughly 40% of Americans have tattoos, or various piercings. Did you check out the shop- not for the artistry, but for infection control practices before you got your tatt? Ever borrowed a razor or nail clippers or other personal hygiene tools from someone else? How about the nail salon? Do enjoy a good pedicure? Things happen. People are different, they have different lifestyle choices. People make mistakes. They change. Things happen.

Sometimes I take calls from people that call HBF’s consult line. In the last couple of weeks I have spoken to a few consults that do not necessarily fit the standard at-risk profile for hepatitis B. One was an older, senior citizen, who is a regular blood donor, but just recently tested positive for hepatitis B during her most recent donation. Because her blood was being regularly screened, it appears clear that she has an acute case of hepatitis B. She can’t figure out how in the world it happened. She is not having sex, nor is she an injecting drug user. She lives in a small town, and does not have any family from other parts of the world where there is a high prevalence of HBV such as Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, parts of Central America. She is dumbfounded by this diagnosis.

Another consult was concerned about his wife who had also contracted an acute case of hepatitis B. They’re also a little older and in a monogamous, married relationship. After speaking with him, we determined she likely contracted her infection through her job. She works as a cleaning woman. Although most people are not symptomatic, this woman was quite symptomatic for HBV and required close monitoring. After discussing her case with her husband, I recommended that he also be tested, though he was sure he could not be infected since he had no symptoms. He called me last week to tell that he was in fact, acutely infected. He is stunned.

I am not here to judge anyone’s apparent risks or lack of risks.  I am only here to answer questions about their hepatitis B infection. Hepatitis B is not casually transmitted, but it is one-tenacious virus that can effectively be transmitted through infected blood and body fluids.

Fortunately, there is a safe and effective 3-shot vaccine series to protect us against hepatitis B. However, the vaccine doesn’t work if you are already infected.  Remember, HBV does not discriminate. B sure. B tested. If you are do not have HBV, then give yourself lifelong protection with the hepatitis B vaccine. If you find you do have hepatitis B, talk to your doctor about further testing. Don’t forget to check out those free, confidential hepatitis screenings this weekend!

Uncategorized

May is Hepatitis Awareness Month

May is Hepatitis Awareness Month! What are you or your organization doing to help educate and raise HBV awareness in your community? Will you be holding viral hepatitis screening events, or other events?

The CDC has launched the “Know More Hepatitis Campaign”, which is an educational initiative striving to educate the public about viral hepatitis and encourage screening. They have designated May 19th as the first Hepatitis Testing Day. Organizations around the country will be providing viral hepatitis screening. Many will be focusing on at-risk populations. This is a great opportunity to get tested to be sure of your HBV or HCV status. Talk to the members of the organizations running the screening to learn more about these diseases, and what you can do to get involved.  Don’t forget to register your viral hepatitis screening event with the CDC, or check out screening events in your area.

The Hepatitis B Foundation and Hep B United Philadelphia have a couple of big activities planned for Hepatitis Awareness Month. On Friday, May 18th, we will be having our “B A Hero” Photo Flash mob event in Love Park in downtown Philadelphia. Everyone is excited about the event.  Some of the students have created a Hep B Rap video to get everyone psyched for the event! We also have some fabulous guests slated to make an appearance. If you’re downtown that day be sure to join us! If you’re nowhere near Philly, consider organizing your own Flash Mob! Its lots of fun and a great opportunity to raise HBV awareness with a splash!

Hep B United Philadelphia will also be offering free HBV screening at the Asian Festival on Saturday, May 19th from 12pm-3pm at the Pennsylvania Governor’s Asian Pacific Heritage Festival, at Franklin Square Park in Philly.  Folks that are screened will get a free Hepatitis B tote bag and will be entered into a raffle to win a free Kindle! Counseling will be available in Chinese, English and Korean. Educational literature will be available in Chinese Vietnamese, Korean, Lao, Khmer, and Indonesian. Look for Hep B United Philly’s tent in the health fair section, along with blood pressure, glucose and vision screening. It’s going to be a great event!

The Hepatitis B Foundation will be hosting the B Informed Parent Conference in downtown Philadelphia on Saturday, May 19th. This will be an incredible opportunity for parents of kids with hepatitis B to meet with leading pediatric experts in the field that address both medical issues and the personal challenges of parenting a child with hepatitis B. It is also a wonderful opportunity for parents to meet face-to-face with other families facing similar challenges.  Be sure to check out the detailed program agenda, and if you are a family with a child living with HBV, or know of a family living with HBV, please encourage them to attend this unique event. Pre-registration is required, though there is no charge for the event. And if that’s not enough, here are 10 reasons you need to get yourself to Philly for this event…

So let us know what you are up to for Hepatitis Awareness Month!  If you’re not already part of an organization, lend a hand and volunteer at a screening in your community. If you speak another language, volunteer your translation services, or hand out pamphlets. Make a commitment to start your own organization, or join an organization. Don’t feel like getting out there? Become an at-home HBV advocate and use social media channels such as twitter or Facebook and support viral hepatitis efforts right from home, or your phone. The opportunities are endless!

Hepatitis B Advocacy

United and Strong…

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I have the best job in the world. I get to walk all around Philadelphia, meet people, and talk with them to find win-win collaboration opportunities. Creativity and innovation are required at all times for adaptations to the ever-changing environment in a diverse and bustling city. My schedule is rarely the same from one week to another—productive late night meetings and well-attended weekend health fairs make me happy. I am never bored.

Community work on the local level is challenging, yet extremely rewarding. This is the level where the lack of resources can be felt most significantly. This is also the level where the fruit of our efforts are the most direct and observable. Being the program manager for Philadelphia’s local hepatitis B coalition, driving day-to-day progress to accomplish the coalition partners’ common goals, has caused me to place high value on partnership and collaboration. There is a Chinese idiom that says “three ignorant cobblers together exceed a Zhuge Liang”. Zhuge Liang was a genius war strategist during the Three Kingdom era at the turn of the 2nd Century. The idiom emphasizes the importance of collective wisdom. Since our community partners are smart and savvy, and could never be described as “ignorant cobblers”, our collective wisdom and effort have achieved great things and made significant impacts in the Philadelphia community—even with the limited resources available to us.

Imagine my excitement when the individual local grassroots hep B campaigns from around the U.S. came together and decided to form a national coalition—Hep B United (the Philadelphia campaign becomes Hep B United Philadelphia). Having a formal national coalition will help local campaigns to become more versatile and more effective, both collectively and individually. Having a national coalition means there will be a unified body of leaders that are connected to the local efforts. They will be able to work with federal and national partners without losing touch with the local campaigns. A unified national presence and identity will also strengthen the ongoing advocacy work to raise awareness among policy makers. Within the national coalition, resource sharing will become more efficient, preventing redundancy or duplication. The quality of our communication across the nation will also improve due to a stronger infrastructure. The local campaigns will enjoy elevated profile thanks to the national-local one-two punch of increased exposure. Ultimately, all of these benefits will help us better serve our communities.

The creation of this national coalition has been in the works for months. The Hepatitis B Foundation is one of the main leaders, and has been faithfully moving the progress along throughout the whole process. As of last week, the official logo for the coalition was voted on and approved. And in the upcoming weeks, each local campaign will gradually update their materials, online and printed, in alignment with the national campaign. While getting a new name is certainly a fresh new beginning, we continue to work with the same integrity and diligence that will always be our identity.

Hep B United. Together, we cannot fail.

Kuan-Lung Daniel Chen, MPH, CPH

Public Health Program Manager

Hepatitis B Foundation

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Gateway to Care: A Hepatitis B Public Health Program in Haimen City, China

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The Hepatitis B Foundation launched its Gateway to Care public health program on April 8, 2011. The program has been up and running ever since.  An introduction to the program, followed by a quarterly update by Dr. Gang Chen, seems important, so others are aware of this successful program.  The Haimen City project is led by Gang Chen, MD, PhD, and Director of China Programs for HBF. Dr. Chen was born in Haimen City and received his training from the Shanghai Medical School approximately 60 miles from Haimen City, in Shanghai. For the past 15 years, Dr. Chen has been traveling bi-annually to continue data collection for the Haimen City cohort study. He was the perfect candidate to lead the Gateway to Care public health campaign.

The Gateway to Care campaign, Haimen City, was made possible by a $400,000 educational grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. Haimen City was selected because it has one of the highest HBV and liver cancer rates in China. Over 10% of the population are hepatitis B carriers.

The goal of the Gateway to Care campaign is to educate and help raise HBV and liver cancer awareness among its one million residents.  The project has three primary goals focusing on raising public awareness, providing target group education and providing hepatitis B management for pregnant women. Ultimately the main goal of the campaign is to create a model program that can readily be adapted and duplicated in other cities throughout China, where the hepatitis B and liver cancer burden is also enormous.

Public health programs like the Haimen City, Gateway to Care campaign must be carefully created based on the culture and the population and the language. China is a large, diverse country. Materials must be developed that address the needs of the community and will be accepted. It’s not a speedy process, but one that must be slowly integrated into the fabric of the community. The goals of the program were emphasized through community events, giveaways, public displays, public screenings, and the education of local doctors, who are the community’s front line physicians. Because HBV is very effectively transmitted vertically from HBV infected mom to her baby at birth, an HBV management program was also put into place specifically for pregnant women, which also includes both a retrospective and a prospective study.

A project logo was created emphasizing the key message and creating a brand. Standard playing cards with 15 key messages pertaining to HBV transmission, prevention, testing and treatment were also printed on the cards making them both functional and educational. Pamphlets and billboards with more detailed information were created and displayed or distributed at community events along with the cards.  A bi-monthly health education publication featured important knowledge about hepatitis B was delivered to every household, or a total of 280,000 households, reaching the one million residents of the city. These are very effective modes of outreach in the Haimen City community.

Stay tuned for the next update from Dr. Chen on more detailed specifics of the Gateway to Care, public awareness part of the public health campaign.

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Help Us Choose the Round 2 Winner of the “B A Hero” PSA Video Contest!

Round 2 of the “B A Hero” PSA Video Contest is over and there are two great PSA videos that have been created! View and cast your vote for your favorite. Both videos are awesome! Vote once, or better yet, vote once per day through March 30th!

We can’t post the videos directly, or you won’t be able to vote, so just click here, and you will be directed to the application that will allow you to view the videos and choose your favorite! Make sure you’re logged into your facebook account, and don’t forget to invite your friends!

Now that you know how cool the videos are, how about joining the fun and raising HBV awareness by creating your own “B A Hero” PSA video?  Round 3 is open and will close on April 13th! Join the fun. Here’s how…

 

 

 

Baruch S. Blumberg Institute