July 2, 2008
Over 15 Bay Area Asian ethnic media outlets are collaborating with the S.F. Hep B Free campaign in an unprecedented and united effort to educate the San Francisco public and community about hepatitis B.
Starting this month, these publications will run advertisements promoting awareness of the disease and the need to be tested and vaccinated for the virus that affects one in 10 Asians. Due to a lack of symptoms, awareness and testing, most Asians are unaware of their infection.
The ads featuring Assemblywoman Fiona Ma and Mayor Gavin Newsom will promote local testing sites and the campaign’s message, “B Sure, B Tested, B Free!”
Chinese newspapers running the ads include World Journal, Sing Tao Daily, Ming Pao Daily News, China Press and International Daily News.
“China Press is always committed to doing community work, and we believe the (S.F. Hep B Free campaign) is good way to educate our readers, who are mostly Chinese immigrants, about this disease,” China Press Bay Area General Manager Helena Ren said.
Philippine News, Ang Panahon, Manila Bulletin, Pinoy Today and Philippines Today are the Filipino publications participating.
“Philippine News believes that any information devoted to health education - and finding ways for our community to avoid, prevent or manage illnesses - is always worth any amount of media space,” Philippine News Managing Editor Cristina Pastor said. “The Filipino American community will benefit greatly from the information-sharing and educational articles on hep B.”
The Japanese newspapers involved include Nichi Bei Times and Hokubei Mainichi, while the Vietnamese publications include Thoi Bao and Mo Magazine.
Also participating as media partners are Korea Daily, The Korea Times-San Francisco, Asian Journal and AsianWeek.
“A lot of Koreans do not know the facts or risks about this disease,” Korea Daily Senior Account Executive Richard Choi said. “As a media outlet, we are obligated to help inform the community about hepatitis B, which is a serious risk for all Asians and Asian Americans.”
As a media partner of the S.F. Hep B Free campaign, these publications, brought together by AsianWeek, will provide ongoing editorial support about the Hep B Free campaign and the need for testing and vaccination for the hepatitis B virus, run public service announcements on a space available basis, and provide paid advertising space at a discounted rate.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
AsianWeek: "Pistahan Makes Hep B Known in Filipino Community"
Written by Peter J. Swing
SAN FRANCISCO - The Filipino American community will have a chance to not only celebrate their culture and heritage with dancing, food and live entertainment at the 15th Annual Pistahan Parade and Festival on Aug. 9 and 10 in Yerba Buena Gardens - but they will also be able to receive hepatitis B screenings at the event’s Health Pavilion.
Though this is the second year in a row that the festival has organized a health exhibition area, this is the first time they will provide free hepatitis B screenings, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
“Hepatitis B is not that well known in the Filipino community,” said Al Perez, President of the Filipino American Arts Exposition, which organizes the annual Pistahan; he is also the creative director at AsianWeek. “This is a great opportunity to help educate our community on how to protect themselves from this deadly virus.”
California Pacific Medical Center will manage the testing site. S.F. Hep B Free Campaign and the Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center will also be on hand to help promote awareness for the disease.
“The best way to reach a community is to participate and be involved firsthand in the community,” said Paula Lykins, community relations manager of California Pacific Medical Center. “The Pistahan provides a great opportunity to outreach to the Filipino community about hepatitis B, and we are committed to join efforts with our SF Hep B Free partners to help reach our goal of screening, testing and vaccinating all APIs in San Francisco.”
While CPMC, the API Wellness Foundation and the SF Hep B Free campaign are making their hepatitis B debut at the festival, Pistahan committee members believe that it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“Because we feel that the issue of hepatitis B is not properly addressed in the Filipino American community, especially to new immigrant arrivals, we are launching a program in October for Filipino Heritage month,” said Rudy Asercion, board member of the Pistahan and executive director of the West Bay Filipino Multiservice Center.
According to Asercion, the program will consist of a series of hepatitis B screening sites around the Bay Area working in tandem with SF Hep B Free Campaign.
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For more information about the Pistahan Parade and Festival visit: pistahan.net. For more about the S.F. Hep B Free campaign: sfhepbfree.org.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
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