LSU-New Orleans student participates in a rice eating contest to raise money for Hepatitis B.

As part of the national campaign, APAMSA Fights to Break the Hepatitis B Cycle! Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA) launched the first ever Hepatitis B awareness month, March 2007. During APAMSA’s National Hepatitis B Month, over 100 local APAMSA chapters educated medical students and local community members about the burden of hepatitis B in the Asian Pacific American (APA) community.

The greatest health disparity between Asian Pacific Americans and Caucasian Americans is liver cancer, 80% of which is caused by chronic hepatitis B virus infection. One out of 4 people with chronic hepatitis B virus (HPV) infection who became chronically infected during childhood will die of HBV-related liver cancer or cirrhosis.  That’s 100 million of the 400 million chronic HBV infected people in the world. APAMSA students are dedicated to eliminating this health disparity.

From a rice eating competition fundraiser at LSU-New Orleans to a cultural show fundraiser at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical school to numerous community-wide screenings and awareness events, APAMSA’s innovative effort to eliminate Hepatitis B spanned the country.  APAMSA chapters in Boston, Chicago, Florida, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Louisiana, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Texas, Virginia and Washington were involved in providing screenings, awareness, and outreach campaigns for Hepatitis B. Jade ribbons were worn as a sign of APAMSA’s dedication to breaking the cycle of Hepatitis B.  Though Hep B Month was only a month long, APAMSA continues to be active in educating, immunizing, and screening hundreds of local communities throughout the nation about Hepatitis B.

APAMSA is the only national medical student organization, representing nearly 15,000 medical students nationwide, dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the Asian Pacific American community.