Over the weekend, Kai and I had a chance to do some work with the Stanford Asian Liver Center. There’s a huge international movement to increase awareness of Hepatitis B in the Asian community. If you are Vietnamese, Chinese, or Korean, it’s really important to spread the word in your own family and community. Did you know that 1 out of 10 Asian Pacific Islanders (API’s) are chronic carriers? This also means the API community is at higher risk for liver cancer. For mothers who are pregnant, it’s important to be screened and make sure your baby is vaccinated at birth.
The steering committee of Hep B Free is working with healthcare institutions to implement mandatory testing for all API patients. Though there is a lot of momentum, there are still barriers. This is a worldwide effort that will take some time, but it will save the lives of thousands. For more information or to get involved, please visit the following links:
Stanford Liver Center
Hep B Free San Francisco
Aaron Kuo Deemer (an artist who is creating documentaries about Hep B in Asia)
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