$1.6 Million to NYU to Treat Hep B in Asian Community

WHAT: New York City Council will launch the Asian American Hepatitis B Program (AAHBP), which addresses the disproportionately high prevalence of hepatitis B within the Asian American community in New York City. The Center for the Study of Asian American Health at NYU School of Medicine received a $1.6 million grant from the New York City Council for the first year of the project to educate, vaccinate, and treat Asian American New Yorkers for hepatitis B. Chronic infection with this virus is a serious health problem in the large Asian American community in the city because Asians are infected are at a much higher rate--as much as 10-fold higher--than the general population. During the first program year, AAHBP will concentrate its efforts on reaching out to the Chinese and Korean communities in New York City. WHEN: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 11:30 AM

WHERE: City Hall steps About AAHBP:The Asian American Hepatitis B Program is a community-based initiative whose members include the New York University School of Medicine Center for the Study of the Asian American Health, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC and its South Manhattan Network, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, and other healthcare organizations in the Chinese and Korean communities.

This initiative will add to our current knowledge and understanding of HBV infection in New York City and will elucidate further information regarding the natural history and epidemiology of the disease.