You’re invited to the 2024 Hepatitis B Foundation Gala on April 5, 2024 in Warrington, PA. Details here.

Coalition Against Hepatitis for People of African Origin (CHIPO)

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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.

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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!

NAIRHHA Day Press Release

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!

Listed on HIV3.gov 2

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!

Check out our latest webinar!

We recently held a webinar, Hepatitis B Advocacy in Africa: Case Examples from Ghana and Nigeria, during which speakers shared 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 discussed 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. 

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 March 18th, 2024 at 10am Eastern Time and will feature a presentation by Dr. Jose Debes of the University of Minnesota, who leads the African Hepatitis B Network and helped to create the HBV Africa app! Email beatrice.zovich@hepb.org if you have questions or are interested in joining! 

News and Updates

Recent Article (March 2024): Introducing a framework for implementing triple elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B virus: policy brief

Recent Article (March 2024): Assessment of prevalence and risk factors associated with Hepatitis B virus infection among blood donors in Mogadishu Somalia

Recent article (February 2024): Prevalence of hepatitis B and C infection and linkage to care among patients with Non-Communicable Diseases in three rural Rwandan districts: a retrospective cross-sectional study

Recent article (February 2024): Under-representation of the WHO African region in clinical trials of interventions against hepatitis B virus infection

Recent article (February 2024): Eliminating viral hepatitis: no room for complacency

Recent article (February 2024): Development and evaluation of a simple treatment eligibility score (HEPSANET) to decentralise hepatitis B care in Africa: a cross-sectional study

Recent article (January 2020): The epidemiology of hepatitis delta virus infection in Cameroon

Recent article (January 2024): Treat All versus targeted strategies to select HBV-infected people for antiviral therapy in The Gambia, west Africa: a cost-effectiveness analysis

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

View our Publication! Barriers to Hepatitis B Screening and Prevention for African Immigrant Populations in the United States: A Qualitative Study (2020)

Check Out a New App!

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Are you a healthcare provider, community health worker, health educator, or passionate community member in Africa? Would you like to learn more about hepatitis B and work to educate your community as well? Check out the new HBV Africa app! This is an app created by the African Network for Hepatitis B Awareness and Education and is equipped with resources, ranging from the basics of hepatitis B to clinical manifestations, to tips for educating the community about the disease. The app is available for download on iOS app store and Google Play.

From our Partners

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.

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

CHIPO Partner Highlight: Community Vision Group

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.

CHIPO Call Minutes

November 2023

September 2023

July 2023

April 2023

March 2023

January 2023

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