Press Release: "SF Unified School District Joins Citywide Campaign to Stop Hepatitis B"

May 8, 2009

MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Christine Hsu, (415) 321-5868
media@sfhepbfree.org

San Francisco Hep B Free today announced that 43,000 full-color flyers bearing the citywide campaign’s hepatitis B prevention message are being distributed this month to students in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). The flyers are being distributed to all San Francisco public schools whose student population is 35% or more Asian and Pacific Islander American. May has been declared Hepatitis B Awareness Month for San Francisco and the State of California.

One side of the flyer contains important facts about hepatitis B in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Spanish. The other side encourages San Franciscans to see their primary care physicians for testing, and also includes a list of facilities offering no-cost screenings, including the upcoming Asian Heritage Street Celebration (Saturday, May 16 at McAllister & Larkin Streets).

The flyers are being given to students, who are already required by state and federal guidelines to be immunized for hepatitis B, to take home to their parents. The message reads, “Your children are already protected, but are you?”

The flyer also carries the "B a Hero" logo of the San Francisco Hep B Free campaign, which encourages all San Franciscans to be a hero by simply getting tested for the hepatitis B virus and encouraging their friends and families to get tested as well.

ABOUT HEPATITIS B
Hepatitis B has been called a “silent killer,” as persons infected with the hepatitis B virus often exhibit no symptoms until the disease has already caused damage to the liver. Everyone should be tested for hepatitis B. Those who are not already chronically infected should be vaccinated.

ABOUT THE SAN FRANCISCO HEP B FREE CAMPAIGN
San Francisco Hep B Free is a collaborative effort undertaken by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, AsianWeek Foundation and the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University to increase public awareness of the disease, promote screening and vaccination, and help link already-infected individuals to care.

ONE DAY MASS SCREENING AT 5TH ANNUAL ASIAN HERITAGE STREET CELEBRATION ON MAY 16, 2009
For the fourth year in a row, free hepatitis B screenings will be offered to the public at the Asian Heritage Street Celebration, which takes place on Saturday, May 16 in San Francisco’s Civic Center and Little Saigon neighborhoods.

For information on the SF Hep B Free campaign, visit www.sfhepbfree.org