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• Should hepatitis B screening be mandatory for jobs or immigration? Let’s talk ethics

                    Hepatitis B (HBV) is a virus that affects the liver and can lead to serious health problems like liver cancer. Because it can spread through blood and other body fluids, some governments and employers have considered making HBV screening mandatory, especially for people applying for jobs or immigration. But is that fair? Let’s break down the ethical issues.  Hepatitis B screening is a simple blood test that checks if someone has the virus. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends that all adults get screened at least once, even if they don’t have symptoms (Schillie et al., 2023). That’s because many people don’t know they have it, and early treatment can prevent serious illness.  The problem with making it mandatory  While screening can help protect public health, forcing people to get tested—especially for employment- or immigration- related reasons can harm communities and increase stigma and discrimination.   It can take away personal choice. Mandatory screening means people don’t get to decide for themselves if they want to be tested. Often people are not even informed of the testing taking place or why it is occurring. That goes against the idea of informed consent, which is a basic principle of medical ethics. People should be able to choose whether to get tested, especially when it involves sensitive health information.  It can lead to discrimination. HBV is more common in certain parts of the world, such as Asia and Africa. So, if screening is required for immigrants, it could unfairly target people from those regions. That can lead to stigma and even racism. In fact, studies show that people in Asian and Black communities in the U.S. are more likely to die from HBV-related illnesses than White communities (Schillie et al., 2023). Many communities in parts of Africa and East Asia are unfairly targeted through these mandatory screening tests

  https://www.hepb.org/blog/hepatitis-b-screening-mandatory-jobs-immigration-lets-talk-ethics/
• Podcast Recaps: Barriers to Hepatitis B Programs in Prisons

  … or connection to outside health services after someone is released from prison. So even if someone starts treatment, it might not continue. People are less likely to follow up with care when they are out of the prison system or may lack the resources to navigate the health system on their own.  Recommendations to improve care  Within this review, researchers provided recommendations on how to address these major challenges to hepatitis B prevention, care, and treatment within the prison system. They are described below-   Education makes a big difference  When people understand hepatitis B better — both those in prison and those working there, stigma goes down, and people are more likely to get help. Education programs can make a big difference to address low knowledge and stigma.  Better health systems inside and out  Connecting prison healthcare to public health systems on the outside means care doesn’t have to stop once someone is released. It can be an opportunity to make sure people stay connected to health care after they get out.  Policy changes that put health first  Routine testing and vaccinations for hepatitis B should be part of prison intake. With the right policies, prisons could become places where people actually get the health care they have been missing out on.  This issue is not just about prisons — it’s about public health. If we ignore hepatitis B in these high-risk settings, we miss a big chance to stop the virus from spreading in communities, too. 

  https://www.hepb.org/blog/podcast-recaps-barriers-hepatitis-b-programs-prisons/
• Thoughts on Disclosure for Children with Hepatitis B

  If you are a family with a child with HBV, or a family considering the adoption of a child with HBV as a special need, it is important to consider how you will manage your child’s hepatitis B information. As an adult you are making your own personal disclosure decision, but when you are dealing with your child’s personal information, it is a decision that needs to be made with the entire family to be considered. Think long and hard. Once this information is out, you cannot take back. Something that I did not truly consider when we were making this decision was the fact that this was not really my information, but rather my child’s information. Our child was a baby at the time. We could not know her personality, and what kind of a person she would become with time. We were fully immersed in the baby scene, and were not even thinking about the teenage years. Little did I know that teens have an opinion about everything. My kids lost interest in discussing their adoption story at the store check-out by the time they entered elementary school. Certainly no one wanted to be the adopted kid with hepatitis B. No one wanted to be the adopted sister of the adopted kid with HBV. I cannot speak for other kids, but that was the case with our own children. In general, kids want to blend. Initially we were concerned about sending the wrong message to our children by not disclosing this information. There should be nothing to hide, so we forged ahead with our information in a couple of small, selective circles. These were carefully chosen groups, nothing permanent like our neighborhood, since we could not afford to move if there were repercussions. Disclosure was abruptly halted after a confrontation with the early intervention team at our home school. Had we not been under the advisement of counsel, I fear the situation would have resulted in a breach of information we might not have been able to contain. I have heard similar stories from other adoptive parents, and it

  http://www.hepb.org/blog/thoughts-on-disclosure-for-children-with-hepatitis-b/
• Join The Hepatitis B Foundation for Our 20th Anniversary Crystal Ball!

  The Hepatitis B Foundation is celebrating 20 years as the global authority dedicated to eradicating Hepatitis B.  Please join us for an evening of fine dining and entertainment! Date: Friday May 13th, 2011 Time:  Cocktails 7:00 pm Dinner:  8:00 pm Place:  PineCrest Country Club in Landsdale, PA Dress:  Business or Cocktail Attire Tickets:  $175 per person or $300 per couple This is the Hepatitis B Foundation’s signature fund raising event, so we hope you will join us in an elegant evening of celebration, fine dining, and dancing to the sounds of Courtney Colletti Music! Both a silent and live auction will add to the festivities. If you are unable to attend the evening, but would like an opportunity to participate in a raffle to benefit the Hepatitis B Foundation, and WIN a six days/nights vacation to exotic Costa Rica, you may purchase a ticket.  The winning ticket will be drawn May 13th, but the winner need NOT be present to claim the prize!  Click here for more information! For additional details and tickets, please call Ms. Peggy Farley at 215-589-6328 or email Peggy.Farley@hepb.org We hope to see you there!

  http://www.hepb.org/blog/join-the-hepatitis-b-foundation-for-our-20th-anniversary-crystal-ball/
• Hepatitis B and Chocolate

  Planning on digging into your favorite dark-chocolate stash, or biting the ears off of a dark-chocolate bunny this weekend?  Dark chocolate is popping up everywhere.  Even some old favorites have a new, dark chocolate wrapper, replacing the now-passé milk chocolate.  Recently, studies have extolled the benefits of dark chocolate, and how it potentially prevents heart disease, reduces the risk of brain damage after a stroke, lowers the risk of heart failure, lowers blood pressure, reduces heart disease, has anti-cancer benefits, slows dementia, raises libido, and last but not least, is mood enhancing.  What about those suffering hepatitis B associated liver disease? Last year there was a study out of Spain that investigated the benefits of dark chocolate to patients with liver disease – specifically patients with cirrhosis.  Cirrhosis causes portal pressure to rise, potentially resulting in damage to blood vessels in the liver.  Eating causes an additional rise in pressure, which becomes more dangerous as liver disease progresses.  Half of the study participants were given white chocolate, and the other dark chocolate.  The dark chocolate group saw a larger decrease in the blood pressure of the liver, and increased blood flow.  Keep in mind that this was a small study with only 21 participants. The good news is that dark chocolate, specifically the cocoa component, is rich in antioxidants called flavonoids, and other beneficial components such as  phenylethylamine, theobromine,  anandamide, magnesium, copper, and vitamins E and B.  That's certainly a mouth-full, but it is these key components that provide all the benefits of chocolate. Here’s the bad news.  Many of us enjoy milk chocolate, or even the dreaded white chocolate, which has little or no benefit due to the processing of the cocoa, and the resulting loss of flavonoids.   In fact, the lighter the chocolate, the fewer the benefits.  In a perfect world we would be eating unsweetened, cocoa

  http://www.hepb.org/blog/hepatitis-b-and-chocolate/