Hepatitis B, also known as the “silent killer” because it has few symptoms, is one of the most common diseases in the world and can eventually lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. 1 in 1000 in the general population is chronically affected, but in the Asian & Pacific Islander (API) community, 1 in 10 is chronically affected. The prevalence of Hepatitis B among APIs has been called “the greatest health disparity that exists between APIs and the general U.S. population” by the city of San Francisco.

The San Francisco Bay Area has one of the largest populations of APIs in the country with an estimated 1,515,179 APIs living in the area. However, little progress has been made in screening the largely linguistically isolated API population of Alameda County that is expected to constitute 28.8% of the county’s population by 2020. Practically no clinics provide free screenings for a population that is more likely to be uninsured compared with the rest of the county. The lack of resources available and the insufficient number of organizations helping API communities serve as obstacles for any effort to tackle this health issue.

What makes the prevalence of Hepatitis B among Asians so perplexing is the fact that a highly effective Hepatitis B vaccine has been available for decades. There is no reason why the virus should still be prevalent in our society today.

Only recently has the Hepatitis B disparity started attracting national attention. In January 2010, the prestigious Institute of Medicine declared that “the CDC, in conjunction with other federal agencies and state agencies, should provide resources for the expansion of community-based programs that provide hepatitis B screening, testing, and vaccination services that target foreign-born populations.”

Nevertheless, in the past couple years, San Francisco, which also has a high API population, has shown that these obstacles can be overcome. San Francisco has managed to establish multiple sites for free screenings of Hepatitis B that are offered several times a week and conducts considerable outreach efforts through community leaders and the media to reach APIs. The disparity in progress towards a Hep B free county between San Francisco and Alameda County is glaring even though the two counties are merely separated by a few miles of water.

Hepatitis B, also known as the “silent killer”, significantly affects Asian and Pacific Islanders (API) more than any other population and yet little progress has been made to screen and vaccinate APIs in counties that have a high percentage of APIs, such as Alameda County. The API community within Alameda County has been largely isolated from health services due to lingual, cultural, and socioeconomic obstacles. This project will jump start the fight against Hepatitis B by collaborating with existing organizations, government agencies, students, and people to work together to eradicate this disease.
The Hep B Project was created to address this preventable health disparity, with a focus on educating, screening, and vaccinating at-risk Asian populations (such as emerging Asian communities) in Alameda County at no cost to the community. The Hep B Project offers FREE Hepatitis B screenings and vaccinations for the Asian & Pacific Islander (API) community of Alameda County at designated locations and Street Level Health Project in Oakland. Also, in accordance with the project’s mission to provide culturally competent education about the disease, translators and translated documents are available at all screening events for patients.
What makes the Hep B Project special is the unprecedented breadth and fiscal efficiency of its approach to eliminating a public health disparity. Most other organizations usually focus on one area, whether it be providing education or medical services—oftentimes with a larger budget—instead of attacking an issue from all angles.