Hep B United Congratulates Community Partners on $1.8 Million in Federal Grants for Hepatitis B Education, Testing, Vaccination, and Linkage to Care
CDC Awards $1.8 Million to Community Coalitions for Hepatitis B Screening, Case Management, and Improving Quality of Medical Care.
- Philadelphia, PA-NJ (1888PressRelease) September 24, 2014 - Hep B United, a national coalition co-chaired by the Hepatitis B Foundation and the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations congratulates its partners and awardees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) program, Collaborations to Improve Identification and Care for Chronic Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Infection among Persons in the United States who were Born in Countries with Intermediate-High (>2%) HBV Prevalence.
Three community-based coalitions received a total of $1.8 million to combat chronic viral hepatitis B in Northern New Jersey and New York City, the Chicago-metropolitan area, and Sacramento, CA. Chronic hepatitis B affects about 2 million Americans, and more than half are Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In addition, the disease is often overlooked and under-diagnosed. If left untreated, hepatitis B can lead to serious liver damage over the long term, and even cancer.
The program aims to improve the capacity of health care providers and stakeholder groups to reduce the burden of chronic hepatitis B in Asian American and other at-risk communities through increased hepatitis B education, screening, vaccination, and linkage to care.
"Increasing the proportion of persons who are aware of their hepatitis B virus infection is one of the overarching goals of the national Action Plan for the Prevention, Care & Treatment of Viral Hepatitis and these new awards will build community capacity to help move us in that direction," said Ronald Valdiserri, MD, MPH, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases, and Director of the Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy.
The grant recipients include:
- Saint Barnabas Medical Center in partnership with Charles B. Wang Community Center (Project title: The Northern New Jersey and New York City Collaborative Hepatitis B Program - Building Bridges to Liver Health)
- Asian Health Coalition (Project title: PROJECT PHOENIX - Positive Health Outcomes through Empowerment and Navigation Initiatives towards Excellence)
- Regents of the University of California at Davis (Project title: SCrATCH - Sacramento Collaborative to Advance Testing and Care of Hepatitis B).
The projects will focus on partnerships to increase the identification of persons with chronic hepatitis B, increase health care provider awareness and their capacity to conduct hepatitis B screening and treatment, and improve multi-sector coordination and linkage to care for persons infected with hepatitis B.
For more information about the CDC program and awardees, visit:
http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/Partners/CommunityBasedHepBProgs.htm.
About Hep B United
Hep B United is a national coalition to address the public health challenge of hepatitis B by increasing awareness, screening, vaccination and linkage to care for all Americans, but in particular, for high-risk Asian American and Pacific Islander populations who are disproportionately impacted. For more information about Hep B United and its local coalition members, please visit http://hepbunited.org.
CONTACT: Kate Moraras Kate.Moraras ( @ ) hepb dot org / (703) 623-4364.
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