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Abstract #162526

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Ruchel Ramos, MPA¹, Henry Pollack, MD², Alex Sherman, MD³, Thomas Tsang, MD, MPH⁴, Hillel Tobias³, Douglas Nam Le⁵, and Mariano Rey, MD⁶. (1) Asian American Hepatitis B Project, Center for the Study of Asian American Health, 550 First Avenue, MSB-153, New York City, NY 10016-6481, (2) Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, New York University School of Medicine, 550 First Av, New York, NY 10016, (3) Concorde Medical Group, 232 East 30th Street, New York, NY 10016, (4) Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, 268 Canal Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10013, (5) Institute of Community Health & Research, NYU School of Medicine, 550 First Avenue, SLH, New York, NY 10016, (6) Center for the Study of Asian American Health, NYU Institute of Community Health and Research, NYU School of Medicine, 550 First Ave, MSB-153, New York, NY 10016, 212-263-0985, mariano.rey@med.nyu.edu

Chronic hepatitis B (HBV), which can lead to liver-related diseases and liver cancer, disproportionately affects many immigrant communities in the United States. This presentation will describe the advocacy and mobilization efforts of a coalition of healthcare providers, professional and volunteer associations, media, and community-based organizations that worked with the City Council of New York to gain City-funding for a large-scale, three-year effort to address the HBV epidemic. Advocacy efforts were initiated by the Asian American community, which has an eight- to ten-fold risk of developing chronic HBV compared to the general population. Through intensive educational efforts with city council members representing districts with a high proportion of Asians, a multi-million dollar award was secured to provide screening, vaccination, education, and treatment for HBV. To date, we have screened more than 5500 individuals for HBV, vaccinated more than 1000 people, and medically evaluated more than 700 persons identified as having HBV. By securing additional funding from the New York City Council, this model program is currently expanding its reach to recent, non-Asian immigrant populations that are also at higher risk for HBV: Latinos, Africans, Caribbeans, and Eastern European/Russians. The program has also leveraged its local policy successes to implement national policy, including the introduction of the first ever Federal bill to set aside specific funds for HBV testing and treatment in affected communities. This presentation highlights the challenges, lessons learned, and experiences of the coalition to work with elected officials to develop a comprehensive community-based health program for minority communities.

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