why isn't hepatitis b on the cdc's list of "winnable battles"?

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced its priority issues in a list of "six winnable battles," including HIV/AIDS, obesity and nutrition, traffic accidents and teen pregnancy. Which is great. Unfortunately, viral hepatitis was not on the CDC's list. Because it should be.

The hard truth is that Asians are the only racial group in which cancer is the number one killer. Liver cancer and hepatitis B liver disease are the greatest health disparities for Asians. Hepatitis B attacks the liver when active, and is one hundred times more infectious than HIV. Left untreated, the disease can cause cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure. 80% of liver cancer cases worldwide are caused by hepatitis B. 1 out of 10 Asian Pacific Islanders is infected.

But hepatitis B and liver cancer are not among the CDC's new priorities. You want to talk about winnable battles? Hepatitis B, as deadly as it is to our community, is easily treatable -- if detected. There is a vaccine that works, and drugs to manage it. The problem is, more than half of the people who have it don't even know it.

Hepatitis B has been called a "silent killer" because infected individuals often exhibit no symptoms until the liver has been compromised, limiting the effectiveness of available treatments. Early detection is key and the blood test used is both simple and inexpensive. However, few physicians routinely test patients for hepatitis B.

Recently, over sixteen congressmen wrote an open letter to the CDC to consider hepatitis as a winnable battle. The CDC only has $7.3 million allocated to national hepatitis B and C prevention. Congressman Mike Honda has introduced a Liver Cancer Bill calling for $600 million to be allocated for national interventions. The bill has 75 co-sponsors.

The get more funding to fight this disease, we as a community need to speak up and convince policymakers that this is an issue that needs attention. This is not an issue where we can afford to stand to the side and stay quiet -- one in four APIs diagnosed with hepatitis B will die of liver cancer unless they receive treatment.

Isn't it fitting, on multiple levels, that hepatitis B is referred to as a "silent killer"? To find out more about what you can do to raise awareness and help fight hepatitis B in the Asian American community, go to the Hep B Free SF website here.