September is Healthy Aging Month —celebrate by adopting habits like regular exercise, healthy eating and sufficient sleep. It’s also a great time to take charge of your liver health. Hepatitis B, if left untreated, can lead to severe conditions like cirrhosis or liver cancer. Talk to your doctor about getting tested for hepatitis B and protect your health as you age!

Get started by looking at Frequently Asked Questions about hepatitis B here.

Join us online or in person for our 5th Annual Community Forum

You can participate online or in person at the Sheraton Grand in Chicago. Held as part of the 2024 International HBV Meeting, a scientific conference, this forum is an excellent opportunity for people living with hepatitis B and other community members to share their insights and experiences!

• To attend online only, click here to register.

• If you wish to register for the Community Forum in person, and not attending the International HBV meeting, please click here to register.



Registration is free, and it is required. Don't miss out on this valuable event!

Sexual Health and Hepatitis B

September is #SexualHealthMonth. While hepatitis B is commonly transmitted during birth, it can also spread through sexual contact. Protect yourself and your partner from hepatitis B and D by practicing safe sex. Importantly, we urge people living with hep B to share their status with (prospective) partners. You may find this conversation challenging, so take a look at which steps to take as you prepare to disclose this information here.

Learn more about hepatitis B transmission here.

The Hepatitis B Foundation has been selected as an Official Charity Partner of the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon.   

We're proud to introduce our #Run4HepB team Aaron Rak, Ben Gulliver, Bailey Vogel, Justin Chen and Lara McCusker.   

Please support the #Run4HepB team and donate today, click here.

Take a look at our new video.

B Heppy Podcast:

Wendy's journey as a hepatitis B patient advocate

In this episode, Bright and Anousha invite Wendy, a #justB storyteller with the Hepatitis B Foundation to share valuable insights about the journey towards patient advocacy and the challenges that come with it. Listen to the podcast here.

Take a look at these helpful resources that were mentioned in the Podcast.

• Watch Wendy's #justB story here.
• Learn how to become a patient advocate with Wendy Lo, here.

You're invited: Book signing event

Please consider joining us! Sen. Joe Conti will serve as moderator.

Survey: COVID-19 vaccine perspectives

Place consider contributing your time and experience to an important study that focuses on underrepresentation of specific populations in clinical trials for the

COVID-19 vaccine!  

• What’s the study about? We want to gain an understanding about the factors that influenced your willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and how different information sources impacted your decision to get vaccinated or not.

• Eligibility: Age 18 or older, of African / South-East Asian / Western Pacific, or Latin American origin.

• Survey details: Your responses will be anonymous, and the survey takes less than 25 minutes!  

Your insights will help public health and research organizations develop effective communication strategies tailored for your community, which can help enhance inclusion and diversity in future drug development studies! 

Please share your thoughts on future hepatitis B treatment

Are you age 18 or over and living with hepatitis B and interested in sharing your thoughts on future treatment? The Hepatitis B Foundation wants to know what you think about different strategies for possible future administration of hepatitis B treatment.

Your responses to our anonymous online survey will help inform future drug development for hepatitis B. We would like as many people as possible to complete the survey!

All responses will be kept anonymous and confidential. The 20-minute survey is available in English, Tagalog, Mandarin, Spanish, and Arabic. Please click one of the languages to complete the survey in the language of your choice. If you have any questions, please email Yasmin Ibrahim at Yasmin.Ibrahim@hepb.org.

Thank you for your help!

Amanda, #BtheVoice Featured Storyteller

For Healthy Aging Month, we're featuring Amanda's journey as a part of our #BtheVoice storytelling campaign.



Amanda discovered she had hepatitis B after extensive blood tests for her Crohn's disease flagged the infection. She initially had no knowledge of #hepB, leading her to a dark and confusing time. Amanda's experience highlights the stigma and misinformation surrounding the disease. 

Please take a look at Amanda's story here.here.

If you are faced with discrimination due to hepatitis B, we want to hear from you. Please read more here.

Join us for a webinar to hear from Dr. Maria Buti, professor of medicine and consultant of hepatology at the University Hospital Vall d'Hebron in Spain. Dr. Buti is a leading global expert in liver disease and will be presenting an overview of her recent paper, "Patient-reported outcomes in chronic hepatitis delta: An exploratory analysis of the Phase III MYR301 trial of bulevirtide."

This study includes important data on health-related quality of life for individuals living with hepatitis delta. We hope you can join us to hear Dr. Buti share insights about this important work! Please register here.

The hepatitis B birth dose is crucial for preventing new infections in newborns, offering lifelong protection and reducing the risk of chronic hepatitis B. However, access remains limited in many low- and middle-income countries due to lack of awareness, costs, transportation challenges, and insufficient political support. Many communities and healthcare providers lack knowledge about the virus and vaccine benefits. Advocacy is needed to improve access and education, and GAVI's new initiative aims to expand vaccine availability in high-need areas. Please read more here.

Dismantling Barriers to Hepatitis B and Delta Screening, Prevention and Linkage to Care among the PWUD Community in Philadelphia

Viruses

 2024, 16(4), 628

https://doi.org/10.3390/v16040628

The Hepatitis B Foundation published results of this study assessing the prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis D among people who use drugs (PWUD) in Philadelphia, and facilitate linkage to care. We found high rates of current and past hepatitis B infection, and a 10% hepatitis D co-infection rate, and 25% of participants needed vaccination. We also identified gaps in the hepatitis B/D care cascade.

Evaluation of interventions to improve timely hepatitis B birth dose vaccination among infants and maternal tetanus vaccination among pregnant women in Nigeria

Vaccine

2024 Vol. 42, Issue 24

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.126222

Catherine Freeland of the Hepatitis B Foundation is one of the authors. They implemented effective new interventions for health care workers, community volunteers, and pregnant people to increase timely hepatitis B vaccine birth dose (within 24 hours). These interventions could play an important role in global hepatitis B elimination.

• Sept. 11: International HBV Meeting Community Forum

• Sept. 11-15: International HBV Meeting, Chicago

• Sept 26: Meet the Author: Dr. Tim Block. Doylestown & ZOOM