San Francisco Chronicle - September 17, 2004
Cicero A. Estrella, cestrella@sfchronicle.com.

With its large Asian/Pacific Islander population, San Francisco is trying to help people before they're beyond help. The Department of Public Health has joined with the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University to offer testing and vaccination for the disease, as well as hepatitis A, for the next year at a reduced rate for city residents.

The "3 for Life" program, referring to the three shots needed to complete vaccination, focuses on Asians and Pacific Islanders but is available to everyone.

"What's sad is that (hepatitis B) is preventable," said Dr. Samuel So, director of the Asian Liver Center. "We've had a vaccine for 20 years. Unfortunately, a lot of people think the problem's solved because there is a vaccine, but the information about it is not getting out to the public."

To publicize the program, So was joined at a news conference Thursday by Mayor Gavin Newsom, Supervisor Jake McGoldrick, Health Director Dr. Mitch Katz and Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco. Newsom, who said he had been vaccinated for hepatitis A a few years ago, rolled up his sleeve and became the program's first customer by taking a hepatitis B shot.

"This is important," Newsom said. "We need to raise awareness within the Asian community of the seriousness of the problem of hepatitis B."

The Public Health Department, which along with the Asian Liver Center is footing the bill for the vaccination discounts, estimates that 1 in 10 of San Francisco's 240,000 Asians and Pacific Islanders may be chronically infected with hepatitis B. By comparison, 1 in 1,000 in the general population is infected.

Without screening and treatment, 25 percent of those infected are expected to die from liver cancer or failure. Hepatitis B is responsible for 80 percent of the cases of liver cancer in Asian Americans.

"Hepatitis B is endemic in Asian countries, like HIV is in Africa," So said. "It's transmitted the same way as HIV -- passed on through the blood. It's perpetuated from one generation to the other."

The hepatitis B virus is commonly passed from an infected mother to her newborn at birth. It is also transmitted by blood through unprotected sex, sharing razors and toothbrushes, or reusing needles for injection, tattoos or acupuncture. It is considered to be 100 times more infectious than HIV.

So said 1 million people worldwide die every year from liver problems caused by hepatitis B.

TESTING, SHOTS

Testing and vaccination for hepatitis A and B will be offered from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every first and third Saturday of the month at the Richmond District YMCA, 360 18th Ave., San Francisco.

Three Hepatitis B shots are $60 total for city residents, $180 for nonresidents. Hepatitis A shots are $45 for residents, $90 for nonresidents. The price for both is $90 for residents, $270 for nonresidents.

Call (415) 554-2844 or (650) 725-4837 for more information.

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