Free Hep B screening on Sat. February 4 and 11, 9-12 noon

Dear friends and colleagues:

From the 2011 Institute of Medicine report on Hep B: "Up to 5.3 million people—2 percent of the U.S. population—are living with chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C. These diseases are more common than HIV/AIDS in the U.S. Yet, because hepatitis B and hepatitis C often present no symptoms, most people who have them are unaware until they develop liver cancer or liver disease many years later."

The Asian communities have been disproportionately burdened with this disease in particular.

UCSF, as one of the partners of the citywide San Francisco Hep B Free Campaign, offers free screening and vaccinations to target the Asian community in the Bay Areas regularly. These events are conducted by the UCSF Medical and Pharmacy school students and UC Berkeley students from the San Francisco HepB Collaborative, with physician faculty members supervising and supporting the event.

Two upcoming UCSF events:

1. The first one will take place this Sat. on February 4, 2011 from 9 am - 12 noon at UCSF.

The address is 2330 Post Street (at Divisadero), ground level. There will be signs on the sidewalk. 2330 Post Street is accessible by bus: #1, 2, 24 and 38. Both screening and vaccination are free.

2. The second HepB vaccination and screening event will take place next Sat. February 11, 2011 from 9 - 12 noon at the Chinatown Public Health Center on 1490 Mason St (X Street Broadway). Screening is free and vaccination is $10.

For both events above: No fasting or appointments are necessary. Just drop by on this or the next Saturday between 9 am to Noon. It generally takes about <30 minutes.

Please help to pass along this information to your acquaintances in the high risk groups and remind them to check for HepB and get vaccinated if appropriate. (It is especially important that all chronic HepB carriers remind their immediate family members to get checked out.)

For the HepB event flyer in different languages for posting, please go to http://apasa.ucsf.edu/APASA/12464-DSY.html

Media friends: Appreciate your help to promote this event.

Thanks for your attention and collaboration.

Best,
Diana

Diana Lau, RN, PhD, CNS
UCSF Asian Health Institute
Assistant Clinical Professor
UCSF School of Nursing

Free Hep B Screenings at Tet Festival Jan. 15

This year's Tet Festival, a celebration of the Vietnamese New Year, will be held in the Little Saigon District on Sunday, January 15, 2012. Celebrate with the community as we welcome in the New Year!

Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center will also be providing free Hep B screenings at the event from 11 am to 3 pm.

For more information about the event, please visit: www.vietccsf.org

For more information about Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center, please visit: www.apiwellness.org

ABC 7 Alan Wang and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma YouTube Video about Hepatitis

Thanks to our 4th Annual Ending All Hepatitis Gala emcees, ABC7 news reporter and anchor Alan Wang, and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma for being vocal advocates and huge supporters of the SF Hep B Free Campaign from the beginning.

Here is a YouTube video link from 2008, one of many that Fiona Ma and Alan Wang have made to raise awareness of this greatest health disparity between Asian Americans with the rest of the US population. All of us at the SF Hep B Free Campaign give our utmost gratitude to the wonderful support and publicity these two notable figures have given and continue to give in promoting our cause to eradicate Hepatitis B in the Asian community!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYpfYG7tmqo&feature=related