San Francisco Hep B Free is a citywide campaign to turn San Francisco into the first hepatitis B free city in the United States. This unprecedented campaign began in 2007, with the objective to screen, vaccinate, and treat all San Francisco

Asian and Pacific Islander Asian/Pacific American (APA) or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) or Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) or Asian American and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) is a term sometimes used in the United States when including both Asian an ...

(API) residents for hepatitis B by providing convenient, free or low-cost testing opportunities at partnering health facilities and events. API's have the highest risk of hepatitis B of any ethnic group. San Francisco's API residents comprise 34% of the city's population and bear a disproportionate burden of

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

and undetected hepatitis B infection. Hepatitis B is a serious disease responsible for 80% of all liver cancers among APIs. San Francisco has the highest liver cancer rate in the nation. It is estimated that one in ten people in the API community have an undiagnosed infection. APIs are up to 100 times more likely to suffer from chronic hepatitis B infection and four times more likely to die from liver cancer compared with the general population. The San Francisco Hep B Free campaign put San Francisco at the forefront of America in fighting chronic hepatitis. It was the largest, most intensive healthcare campaign for Asian and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. This initiative received national attention and is being looked to as a model by the California legislature. Mayor Gavin Newsom, Assemblywoman

Fiona Ma Fiona Ma (born March 4, 1966) is an American accountant and politician. She has been serving as the California state treasurer since January 7, 2019. She previously served as a member of the California Board of Equalization from 2015 to 2019, t ...

and Supervisor Ed Jew lead the effort, partnering with more than 50 healthcare and Asian Pacific Islander (API) organizations. The

San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco. Government and politics The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a c ...

and San Francisco Health Commission passed unanimous resolutions supporting San Francisco Hep B Free. Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco Medical Center was asked to present the first Hep B conferences. Gayle Akins, Kaiser Permanente CME department produced the accredited conferences on Hepatitis B for physicians, allied health professionals, community organizations and the public. The San Francisco Hep B Free Steering Committee was made up of the San Francisco Department of Public Health,

Asian Liver Center The Asian Liver Center is a non-profit organization at Stanford University, United States, that researches the high incidence of hepatitis B and liver cancer in Asians and Asian Americans. The Asian Liver Center (ALC) was founded in 1996 to spear ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, and AsianWeek Foundation. Assemblywoman Ma served as spokesperson and Honorary Chairperson.The efforts of San Francisco Hep B Free have been the model for similar efforts in other California counties, as well as Chicago, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.

References

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External links

San Francisco Hep B Free
official site
Asian Liver Center
at Stanford University
Asian Week Foundation

San Francisco Department of Public Health

Medical and health organizations based in California Ribbon symbolism Hepatitis B Healthcare in San Francisco

See also

References

External links