Coalition Against Hepatitis for People of African Origin (CHIPO)
The Coalition Against Hepatitis for People of African Origin (CHIPO) is a community coalition co-founded and led by the Hepatitis B Foundation. We are comprised of organizations and individuals interested in addressing the high rates of hepatitis B infection among African communities around the world. CHIPO serves as a forum for sharing information and best practices and increasing national capacity to improve hepatitis B awareness, testing, vaccination and treatment among highly affected African communities.
People of African origin are disproportionately affected by hepatitis B infection. In fact, in some African communities in the U.S., between 5% and 15% of people have chronic HBV infection. Unfortunately, due to the silent nature of the disease, lack of disease awareness, and limited health care access, most African community members who have hepatitis B DO NOT KNOW that they are infected. This puts them at much greater risk for premature death from cirrhosis or liver cancer.
The key to addressing the high burden of hepatitis B infection in people of African origin is to improve awareness and access to hepatitis B information, screening, vaccination, and follow-up care. CHIPO brings together people from around the world who are working in their own local communities to address these very issues.
Breaking News!
On September 18th, 2023 Hepatitis Caucus Co-Chairs, Congressman Hank Johnson and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (NY) along with HIV/AIDS Caucus Co-Chair, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA), introduced a resolution to recognize September 9th as National African Immigrant and Refugee HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis Awareness (NAIRHHA) Day. Read the full press release here!
We're thrilled to announce that National African Immigrant and Refugee HIV & Hepatitis Awareness (NAIRHHA) Day, observed on September 9th, is now officially listed on HIV.gov! Learn more about the awareness day and how you can get involved here!
Join our upcoming webinar!
We hope you can join us for an upcoming webinar, Hepatitis B Advocacy in Africa: Case Examples from Ghana and Nigeria, during which speakers will share their experiences of working toward and achieving policy change around hepatitis B within state- and country-level Ministries of Health, which can hopefully serve as a model for similar advocacy in other contexts. As we are aware, hepatitis B carries a significant burden across the African continent with over 60 million Africans living with hepatitis B. To improve testing, access to management and treatment, and prevention, it takes significant political commitment and advocacy. This webinar will discuss strategies to engage with political leaders within the African context. We hope by the end of this session you will be inspired and encouraged to create similar initiatives in your communities. The webinar will take place on Thursday December 7th at 10am ET/3pm GMT/4pm WAT. You can register here.
Join CHIPO!
Does your organization serve African populations, or are you a passionate community member? All are welcome at CHIPO's coalition calls! Our next call will take place on Monday January 22nd, 2024 at 3pm Eastern Time - more details coming soon! Email beatrice.zovich@hepb.org if you have questions or are interested in joining!
Check out our latest webinar!
Effectively Addressing High Rates of Liver Cancer in African Communities
In honor of October being Liver Cancer Awareness Month, we were joined by Dr. Kenneth Rothstein, Director of Regional Hepatology at Penn Medicine Health System and Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who discussed the trends he is seeing in liver cancer in African communities in the Philadelphia area, as well as globally, and methods for effectively lowering these rates. View Dr. Rothstein's slides here
News and Updates
Recent article (October 2023): Seroprevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Hepatitis C Virus, and Hepatitis B Virus Among Blood Donors in Sidi Bel Abbes, West Algeria
Recent article (October 2023): Black People Less Likely to Be Eligible for Hepatitis B Treatment
Recent article (September 2023): Five-year results of a treatment program for chronic hepatitis B in Ethiopia
Recent article (August 2023): A Comparison of the Awareness, Attitude, and Uptake of COVID-19, Hepatitis B Virus, and Yellow Fever Vaccines Between Rural and Urban Respondents in Edo State, Nigeria
Recent article (August 2023): Somalia, WHO renew efforts to tackle viral hepatitis
Recent article (August 2023): World Hepatitis Day held at Ho; over 900 screen, vaccinated
Recent article (July 2023): Afenyo-Markin calls for inclusion of Hepatitis B in NHIS, assure constituents of Viral Loading Machine
Recent article (July 2023: WHO tells African countries to make Hepatitis treatment available through PHC services
Recent article (July2023): WHO Calls For Action To Eliminate Viral Hepatitis In Africa By 2030
Recent article (July 2023): WHO Tasks Nigeria, Others On Viral Hepatitis Elimination
Recent article (July 2023): Study reveals need for early diagnosis and treatment of liver disease in Africa
Recent article (July 2023): World Needs to Dramatically Scale Up Hepatitis Testing and Treatment
Recent article (July 2023): Ghana: Childhood Immunisation Programme - Newborns to Receive Hepatitis B Vaccines ...Within 24hrs of Birth Beginning Next Year
Recent article (July 2023): Uganda elevates health for all with free hepatitis testing, treatment and vaccines
Recent article (July 2023): Progress Toward Hepatitis B Control and Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of Hepatitis B Virus
Recent article (July 2023): Recent progress in infant hepatitis B vaccination efforts in Africa
Recent article (July 2023): Hepatitis B Vaccination Efforts in Africa Are Flagging
Recent article (July 2023): Risk Factors for Hepatitis B Virus Infection in North Ethiopia: A Case–Control Study
Recent article (July 2023): Informing a target product profile for rapid tests to identify HBV-infected pregnant women with high viral loads: a discrete choice experiment with African healthcare workers
Recent article (June 2023): Nigeria: Health Experts Advocate End to Mother to Child Transmission of Diseases
Recent article (June 2023): Racial Disparities in Chronic Hepatitis B: Implications for Treatment and Outcomes
Recent article (June 2023): Effutu: Afenyo Markin secures viral load machine for testing and treatment of hepatitis B for constituents
Recent article (June 2023): World Hepatitis day 2021 –screening and vaccination against Hepatitis B virus in Accra, Ghana
Recent article (June 2023): Scale up Hepatitis B testing in Ghana
Recent article (May 2023): Modelling of Hepatitis B Virus vertical transmission dynamics in Ethiopia: a compartmental modelling approach
Recent article (May 2023): Viral hepatitis like AIDS: that’s why we need to eliminate them (and we can’t)
Recent article (May 2023): High hopes but low pledges for hepatitis conference in Geneva
Recent article (April 2023): Measuring stigma associated with hepatitis B virus infection in Sierra Leone: Validation of an abridged Berger HIV stigma scale
Recent article (April 2023): Opinion: Here’s why Gavi must start hepatitis B vaccination in Africa
Recent article (April 2023): No racial disparities observed in chronic HBV treatment rates among eligible patients
Recent article (April 2023): Mapping hepatitis B virus genotypes on the African continent from 1997 to 2021: a systematic review with meta-analysis
For our November 2023, we were excited to be joined by Sunyasemeni Almond Ezra, Executive Director of Jeneso Development Initiative in Adamawa, Nigeria, who presented on efforts the organization has been making to establish hepatitis B prevalence in the local government area, through offering education and screening, as well as vaccination and linkage to care. Mr. Ezra also discussed effective approaches to data collection, management, and presentation. You can view Mr. Ezra's slides here.
For our July 2023 CHIPO call, we were joined by Dr. John Ward of the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination, who discussed the importance of GAVI's re-introduction of support for hepatitis B birth dose in Africa. You can view Dr. Ward's slides here.
The April 2023 CHIPO coalition call focused on advocacy efforts in different contexts and featured a presentation by Dr. Gilbert Ngwaneh Miki, Executive Director and Founding President of Community Vision Group in Cameroon and Malawi, about the current initiatives of his organization in the fight to eliminate hepatitis B. You can view these slides here. We also welcomed Frank Hood, Associate Director of Policy and Partnerships at the Hepatitis B Foundation and Director of Hep B United, as well as Rhea Racho, Director of Advocacy and Engagement at the Hepatitis B Foundation, to share about the current advocacy priorities and profile of the Hepatitis B Foundation. You can view these slides here.
The March 2023 CHIPO coalition call included a presentation from Abby Showalter, Senior Manager of Social Media and Communications at the Hepatitis B Foundation, about how to use social media effectively as a public health tool. You can view Abby's slides here.
Montefiore Einstein Starfish Project is working to raise awareness and increase hepatitis B screening for people of West African descent in the Bronx, NYC. Click here to support their efforts and get more details on the program.
The Starfish Program has hepatitis B fact sheets available for West African communities that can be found in English, Twi, Hausa, French, and Igbo.
African Services Committee in New York City created a flyer in both English and French about understanding your hepatitis B test results. View this resource here.
From our Blog
Podcast Recaps: A Global Perspective on Stigma and Discrimination Against Hepatitis B
CHIPO Partner Highlight: Falcons Health Foundation of Accra, Ghana
CHIPO Partner Highlight: Hepatitis B Initiative of Washington, D.C.
What's the Difference?: Herbal Remedies and Supplements v. Western Medicine
Reactivation with Hepatitis B: Understanding Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies
CHIPO Partner Highlight: United States Coalition for African Immigrant Health
CHIPO Partner Highlight: Illinois Public Health Association
CHIPO Partner Highlight: Great Lakes Peace Centre
CHIPO Is Looking for New Members!
Tackling Hepatitis B in Africa: The First Nigerian Hepatitis Summit
Where is Hepatitis Delta? High Prevalence of Hepatitis B/Delta Coinfection in Central Africa
Raising Awareness about Hepatitis B in African Immigrant Communities in the US
CHIPO Call Minutes
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