About the Hepatitis B Virus
Hepatitis B is a serious liver disease caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV). One-third of the world population has been infected with HBV. About 1 in 10 Asian Americans and Asian and Pacific Islanders worldwide have chronic hepatitis B, but it is a silent disease because most people with chronic hepatitis B do not know that they have been infected. 1 in 4 people with chronic hepatitis B will die from liver cancer or liver failure. Thus, effective education, screening, and vaccination are necessary to stop this silent hepatitis B epidemic. To learn more about hepatitis B, please visit our Education Page
About the Act
Viral Hepatitis and Liver Cancer Control and Prevention Act of 2009 (HR 3974) would amend the Public Health Service Act to establish, promote, and support a comprehensive prevention, research, and medical management referral program for chronic hepatitis B and C. This act will increase education for patients and health care providers, access to hepatitis testing and liver cancer screening, the ability of health departments to detect outbreaks, and supporting viral hepatitis prevention and education programs across the U.S. This Act was introduced by U.S. Representatives Mike Honda, (D-CA) and Charles Dent (R-PA) with original cosponsors Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-LA), David Wu (D-OR), Todd Platts (R-PA), Donna M. Christiansen (D-VI), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Bobby Rush (D-IL), George Butterfield (D-NC), and Judy Chu (D-CA). To read the bill, please visit: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-3974
What You Can Do
We now have 52 Representative cosponsors and we can carry this momentum forward with your help! Email and call your Representative today to join as cosponsor and show their support for addressing the viral hepatitis epidemic. Feel free to use the template scripts attached. You can reach your Representative by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 1-202-224-3121 or email Representatives directly from http://writerep.house.gov. If you don’t know your Representative, go tohttp://www.congress.org and enter your zip code in the upper right corner.