Coalition Against Hepatitis for People of African Origin (CHIPO)
The Coalition Against Hepatitis for People of African Origin (CHIPO) is a national 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 in the U.S. CHIPO serves as a forum for sharing information and best practices, and improving 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 country who are working in their own local communities to address these very issues.
Join CHIPO!
Does your organization serve African immigrant populations in the U.S., or are you a passionate community member? All are welcome at CHIPO's coalition calls! The next call will take place on Monday December 13th, 2021 at 3pm EST and will feature a presentation by Dr. Peyton Thompson on her paper Arresting Vertical Transmission of Hepatitis B Virus (AVERT-HBV) in Pregnant Women and Their Neonates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Feasibility Study. Email beatrice.zovich@hepb.org if you are interested in joining!
News and Updates
Check out our latest blog post, which provides an overview of CHIPO's goals and objectives, where we've been and where we're going. We hope you join us!
Recent article (October 2021): Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Virus and Associated Factors Among Female Sex Workers Using Respondent-Driven Sampling in Hawassa City, Ethiopia
Recent Journal of Medical Virology Article (September 2021): Viral Hepatitis Amidst COVID-19 in Africa: Implications & Recommendations
Recent Lancet Article (August 2021): Arresting Vertical Transmission of Hepatitis B Virus (AVERT-HBV) in Pregnant Women & Their Neonates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Feasibility Study
Recent article (April 2021): Self-Testing for HIV, HBV, and HCV Using Finger-Stick, Whole-Blood, Multiplex Immunochromatographic Rapid Test: A Pilot Feasibility Study in Sub-Saharan Africa
Recent Frontiers in Pharmacology article (April 2021): Filtering Inequality: Screening and Knowledge in Senegal's Topography of Hepatitis B Care
Article (January 2021) in International Journal of Women's Health: Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Infection and Factors Associated with Hepatitis B Virus Infection Among Pregnant Women Presented to Antenatal Care Clinics at Adigrat General Hospital in Northern Ethiopia
Major Article Published in Nature on Hepatitis B in Africa: The silent epidemic killing more people than HIV, malaria or TB
View our Publication! Barriers to Hepatitis B Screening and Prevention for African Immigrant Populations in the United States: A Qualitative Study (2020)
From our Partners
Montefiore Einstein Starfish Project is offering FREE hepatitis B testing for West Africans in the Bronx, NYC. Click here for more details.
African Services Committee in New York City recently delivered a presentation on Project DELIVER: Decreasing and Eliminating Liver Cancer by Increasing Viral Hepatitis Testing & Educational Resources. Click here to view the presentation. ASC has also recently created a flyer in both English and French about understanding your hepatitis B test results. View this resource here.
Read about a new initiative of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health to improve linkage to HBV care for West African migrants in the Barcelona metro area, a project known as HBV-COMSAVA. View the presentation here.
Our partners at the Multicultural AIDS Coalition have undertaken a project to explore the "Impact of COVID-19 on African Immigrants Living in New England - A PhotoVoice Project." View their presentation here.
In March of 2021, we were joined by Dr. Brian McMahon and Shaun Shadaker of the CDC, who led a webinar entitled "Linkage to Care and Treatment for Persons with Chronic Hepatitis B Infection in Dar es-Salaam and Zanzibar, Tanzania." View the slides here.
In July of 2021, we were excited to host Dr. Patricia Jones, a hepatologist and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Miami, for her talk on "Understanding Perceptions of Hepatitis B & Hepatocellular Carcinoma Among Ethnically Diverse Black Communities in South Florida." View the slides here.
In November of 2021, Dr. Noemi Tousignant from the Department of Science and Technology Studies at University College, London, joined us to discuss work on her paper "Filtering Inequalities: Screening and Knowledge in Senegal's Topography of Hepatitis B Care." View the slides here.
From our Blog
Recap of NAIRHHA Day 2020 Celebration
The History of National African Immigrant and Refugee HIV & Hepatitis Awareness Day 2019
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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