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National Hepatitis B Initiative for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

Hepatitis B is the world's most common serious viral infection of the liver and can cause premature death from liver disease or liver cancer.

Chronic hepatitis B and liver cancer caused by hepatitis B in Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (AA/NHOPI) comprise one of the most serious but frequently neglected racial and ethnic health disparities in the U.S.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that as many as two million people in the country are living with chronic hepatitis B, and more than half are AA/NHOPI. Not only do these groups have the highest rates of chronic hepatitis B among all racial/ethnic groups in the U.S., but they also have a disproportionately high risk of liver cancer, the third leading cause of cancer death among the AA/NHOPI population.

The Goals and Strategies document lays out a national action agenda to eliminate hepatitis B in AA/NHOPI communities.

Key elements include increasing national awareness of the disproportionate impact, engaging stakeholders, and expanding the infrastructure needed to reduce the risk of chronic hepatitis B infection and its long-term complications.

Resource Links:

Institute of Medicine
http://www.iom.edu/

The National Task Force on Hepatitis B: Focus on Asians and Pacific Islander Americans
http://www.hepbtaskforce.org/aboutus.htm

CDC Testing and Public Health Management of Persons with Chronic Hepatitis B Infection: Guidelines and Tools
http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/HBV/TestingChronic.htm

NIH Consensus Development Conference: Management of Hepatitis B
http://consensus.nih.gov/2008/2008HepatitisBCDC120main.htm

Statistics on Hepatitis and Asian Americans
http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/content.aspx?lvl=3&lvlid=541&ID=6495

OMH article with links to more web pages, podcasts and publications on Hepatitis B
http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/content.aspx?ID=8924&lvl=2&lvlid=190