PH CONSULATE HOSTS SF HEP B FREE’S ANNUAL HEPATITIS B SCREENING AND EDUCATION EVENT
Consul General Neil Ferrer welcomed Hep B Free San Francisco Bay Area (SF Hep B Free) for its third annual free Hepatitis B screening event at the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco on 24 May 2024, in observance of Hepatitis Awareness Month in the United States. The tests would show whether or not an individual is Hepatitis B-positive, and whether or not one has the immune response to the disease. Representing SF Hep B during the event are Board Chair Stuart Fong and Executive Director Richard So.
Executive Director So gave a talk to the Consulate’s dual citizenship applicants, where he told the audience that Hepatitis B screenings should be free in any clinic or healthcare provider. Non-profit On Lok also set up an information desk for their senior care programs and services.
According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC, one in 12 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in the country has chronic Hepatitis B, with one out of four cases developing into liver cancer. While AAPIs constitute only four percent of the population in the United States, they comprise over half of the 850,000 to 2.4 million people in the country who are chronically infected with Hepatitis B. Since February 2022, the U.S. CDC has recommended universal Hepatitis B vaccination, including infants and the elderly. (San Francisco PCG photos)
