National partners convene in Washington, D.C., for 11th Annual Summit.

Doylestown, Pa., July 28, 2023 – Hep B United, a national coalition established by the Hepatitis B Foundation and the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) to address the epidemic of hepatitis B, hosted its 11th annual summit in Washington, D.C., July 24-25. The summit brought together nearly 100 community leaders, advocates, clinicians, federal partners and people living with hepatitis B to discuss strategies and challenges towards eliminating hepatitis B in the U.S.

At the Summit, participants discussed innovative local and national programs to prevent, diagnose and treat hepatitis B. Discussions focused on strategies to disseminate and implement the new universal adult hepatitis B testing and vaccination recommendations, while also ensuring that we continue to work towards addressing hepatitis B and liver cancer related health disparities among disproportionately impacted communities. Summit participants identified critical needs for improving the hepatitis B care cascade in the U.S. This includes the need for point-of-care testing for hepatitis B, increased access to vaccine, capacity building and support for disseminating and publishing community-based data, and enhanced training and support for patient navigators. The Summit also featured people living with hepatitis B, to discuss the role of storytelling in increasing public awareness and combatting stigma and discrimination.



Photo by Amy Trang, PhD, MEd, Hep B United

Importantly, the Summit provided an opportunity to highlight the critical role that people with lived experience play as we strive to eliminate hepatitis B. Participants discussed a powerful new Patient Declaration published in the Journal of Viral Hepatitis by co-authors Dr. Su Wang, Director of the Center for Asian Health at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, and Mr. Danjuma Adda, President of the World Hepatitis Alliance.

“People living with hepatitis B deserve a voice at the table and should be included in clinical and research discussions that impact their lives,” Dr. Wang said.

Partners in the room concluded that expanded and simplified hepatitis B treatment guidelines are needed and decisionmakers must integrate patient preferences and quality of life assessment into the medical management of hepatitis B.

Aligning with the Patient Declaration, the Hepatitis B Foundation released a video to highlight some of the patients’ demands.

At the end of the two-day meeting, Hep B United partners hosted an awareness event in front of the White House, carrying signs such as “We Are Fighting 4 Our Lives” and “Hep B Can’t Wait.”

“This was an ideal way to commemorate World Hepatitis Day, and an opportunity to spotlight the needs of people living with hepatitis B, and generate action towards prioritization hepatitis B, hepatitis D and liver cancer as urgent health priorities,” stated Dr. Chari Cohen, President of the Hepatitis B Foundation.

World Hepatitis Day is observed each year on July 28. That is the birthday of Dr. Baruch Blumberg, Nobel Laureate who discovered the hepatitis B virus and developed the first vaccine.

About hepatitis B: The world’s most common serious liver infection, chronic hepatitis B, is caused by a virus that attacks and injures the liver. Almost 300 million people worldwide and 2.4 million people in the U.S. have chronic hepatitis B. Each year up to 1 million people die from hepatitis B worldwide, even though it is preventable and treatable. If untreated, hepatitis B can lead to liver cancer, which is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide.

About Hep B United: Hep B United is a nationwide coalition with partners in 37 cities, 29 states and Washington, D.C. The coalition is co-led by the Hepatitis B Foundation and the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO). Hep B United is dedicated to reducing the health disparities associated with hepatitis B by building the capacity of community coalitions to increase hepatitis B education, vaccination, testing and linkage to care in a culturally and linguistically responsive manner. The coalition focuses on communities disparately impacted, including Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, African Immigrants and persons who inject drugs. It promotes cross-sector partnerships between community organizations, health departments and Federally Qualified Health Centers, and has been building the capacity of multi-sectoral community coalitions to address hepatitis B in a nationally coordinated manner. The Hep B United Summit is the largest convening of hepatitis B leaders from community coalitions, national nonprofit organizations, individuals and family members affected by hepatitis B, and public health agencies in the U.S.

The recommendations call for all adults ages 18 and older to be tested for hepatitis B.

New guidance released on March 9th by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that recommend testing of all adults ages 18 and older will save lives, ultimately, says Hepatitis B Foundation President Chari A. Cohen, DrPH, MPH.

The CDC will publish its Universal Adult Hepatitis B Screening Recommendations in the March 10 edition of its influential Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). A preview was posted on March 9 on the CDC website which can be found here.

“The Hepatitis B Foundation is grateful for the advocacy work on this issue by our Hep B United Coalition partners, the many individual advocates nationwide who have been engaged on this issue and the Congressional Hepatitis Caucus, which has been very supportive over the years of hepatitis B initiatives and decreasing HBV-related disparities,” Dr. Cohen said.

For years, the Hepatitis B Foundation has advocated that universal screening is essential to successfully addressing hepatitis B in the U.S. Our team will continue advocacy efforts to encourage the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to align with CDC’s final recommendation.

The Hepatitis B Foundation is developing a comprehensive communications program, including a detailed white paper and a social media tool kit, to help ensure that physicians, other health care providers and public health profession nationwide learn about the new recommendations.

Previous guidelines in the U.S. were based on a person’s risk factors, which was stigmatizing, inefficient and burdensome to providers and patients. It’s important to note that about two-thirds of Americans with hepatitis B have no identified risk factors for the disease, so previous recommendations were missing a large portion of those infected.

The new recommendation calls for all adults to be screening using the hepatitis B triple panel (hepatitis B surface antigen, hep B surface antibody and hep B core antibody). The triple panel is preferred because it provides a comprehensive view of a person’s hepatitis B status and alerts the provider as to the necessary next steps, including vaccination for susceptible individuals or linkage to care for those infected.

A webinar for providers, through the Hep B United coalition, was scheduled for March 27 at 4 p.m. EDT. The webinar addressed what the recommendations will mean for providers and how implementation of universal screening and vaccination will look. The speakers included CDC representatives and Dr. Robert Gish, medical director of the Hepatitis B Foundation. Watch the video recording of the webinar here.

In the U.S., up to 2.4 million people are chronically infected, yet only 25% of those individuals know they are infected. Without diagnosis and appropriate care and treatment, people with chronic hepatitis B are at significantly increased risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Hepatitis B cases in the U.S. have been rising in recent years – up 11% between 2014 and 2018 – largely due to the opioid epidemic. The disease is one of the primary causes of liver cancer, the fastest-growing cancer in the U.S., and a leading cause of cirrhosis. Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and African Immigrants continue to be disproportionately impacted by hepatitis B and liver cancer. From 2003-2017, it was the second most common cause of cancer deaths in Asian American and Pacific Islander males. Asians and Black Americans living with HBV have an 11-fold risk of developing primary liver cancer in comparison to white Americans.

The U.S. is on the path to eliminating viral hepatitis by 2030. Combined with universal vaccination for all adults 19-59, the new screening guidelines are a significant step towards reducing health disparities, reducing new hepatitis B infections, and working towards elimination.

About hepatitis B: The world’s most common serious liver infection, chronic hepatitis B is caused by a virus that attacks and injures the liver. Each year up to 1 million people die from hepatitis B worldwide, even though it is preventable and treatable. Hepatitis B is a “silent epidemic” because most people do not have symptoms when they are newly or chronically infected. Thus, they can unknowingly infect others and continue the spread of hepatitis B. For people who are chronically infected but don’t have any symptoms, their livers are still being silently damaged, which can develop into serious liver disease such as cirrhosis or liver cancer.