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World Hepatitis Day 2018: Why is Hepatitis B testing Important?

 You can help raise awareness and save lives…

Tell us why you think hepatitis B testing is important?

Globally, 292 million people are living with chronic hepatitis B. Only 10 percent are aware of their diagnosis. The theme for this year’s World Hepatitis Day is “Find the Missing Millions.” Help us raise awareness for World Hepatitis Day (July 28th, 2018) by telling the world why it is important to get tested for hepatitis B!

Create an awareness message about hepatitis B by answering the prompt below.The Hepatitis B Foundation will compile video entries for a larger video that will be released on World Hepatitis Day, July 28, 2018.

Who Can Enter? Anyone across the world!

Here’s how to Enter:

  1. Record a short video or an audio clip of yourself (15 seconds or less) answering the prompt, “People should be tested for hepatitis B because ….”

2. Note: You may choose the audio option if you wish to remain anonymous. Film yourself answering the above question. Your face and/or your picture does not have to be in the video; however, we must be able to hear you. If you choose to record an audio clip you are welcome to send a picture from your country or something that represents you. 

Keep your video no longer than 15 seconds!

  1. Send your video to us:
  1. When you send your video, please mention that you wish to participate in the World Hepatitis Day 2018 Campaign.

Video Tips/Guidelines

  1. Your video must be 15 seconds or less
  2. Your video should be in English

Note: If your video is recorded in a language other than English, please provide the English translation. If possible, provide a timed script with timings of phrases.

  1. Videos must be recorded in Landscape/horizontal mode. Videos recorded in a Vertical format cannot be used.
  2. Record your video in a quiet area or with a microphone.
  3. Record your video in good lighting.

Disclaimer

By submitting a video to this campaign, participants give the Hepatitis B Foundation permission to use their videos (audio and video), in the World Hepatitis Day campaign and promotion, as well as in future hepatitis B awareness efforts. The participant will waive any claims to royalty, right, or remuneration for such use. The Hepatitis B Foundation will not disclose any personal information obtained from participants (i.e., full names, email addresses, etc.) in the campaign to third parties or use the information for marketing or other purposes.

For inspiration, visit our website, World Hepatitis Alliance’sFind the Missing Millionscampaign, and CDC’s and Hep B United’s Know Hepatitis Bcampaign.

Submission Period: You must submit your video by July 20, 2018 (Submission closes at 11:59 PM EST on 7/20/18)

Have Questions? Please contact Kristine Alarcon at kristine.alarcon@hepb.org

Additional  information can be found at hepb.org/worldhepatitisday2018.

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World Hepatitis Day 2012 in Cairns, Queensland, Australia

WHD 2012 Cairns: Hep Day Out friends - Yvonne, Rhondda, Murph & Allana

A personal reflection on WHD events from Guest Blogger Yvonne Drazic

WHD was again promoted and celebrated in style in Cairns with lots of dedicated people making it a great success. The key organizers were Rhondda, the Viral Hepatitis Health Practitioner from the Cairns Sexual Health Service, and Alanna and Julie from the Queensland Injectors’ Health Network (QuIHN). At present, the bulk of hepatitis B health promotion and patient support is done through these organizations as part of hepatitis C and HIV services because sufficient separate government funding for hepatitis B is not yet forthcoming.

Last year, Rhondda organized a fabulous free lecture about hepatitis B which, while aimed at health care professionals and medical staff, was open to the public and especially to people affected by or living with hepatitis B. The speaker was Dr. Benjamin Cowie, an infectious diseases physician from Melbourne with a special interest in hepatitis B. His passionate and compelling presentation evoked great feedback from the audience, many stating it was a real eye-opener. This year’s lecture was presented by Dr. Joshua Davis who spoke equally engaging about his efforts to address hepatitis B in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. The talk attracted an audience of more than 100 people. As an add-on to the lecture, Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander health workers could move on to an event/workshop called Yarnin up HepB where they were able to discuss anything hepB – and get expert advice – from Dr. Davis. This was very well received although many participants were quite disturbed about the statistics of hep B in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

This year the open day at Cairns Sexual Health Service was called “Hep Day Out”. It was designed to be fun with funky, colourful posters (created by the talented Murph) and a music jam session. Like last year, the day featured tours of the premises with screening opportunities, as well as the famous QuIHN van offering information, a scrumptious lunch and fun activities. Every visitor who took the tour and completed a short quiz received a cool t-shirt courtesy of Hepatitis Queensland (see photos) and a health pack. In addition, the resident psychologist was on site for people who wanted a chat and I was available for brain-picking for everyone who wanted to know more about hepatitis B. Invitations were distributed to migrant services and communities but unfortunately did not attract any visitors from these groups. Possibly the time was unsuitable due to work commitments but it could also be due to fear of stigmatization which may be increased in these populations. I am currently conducting research to explore barriers and other issues that may keep people from engaging in health-protective actions such as screening and monitoring. It will also help to find more effective ways of engaging with migrant communities and get a better turnout for next year’s WHD.

Overall, plenty of awareness was raised, many people were educated about viral hepatitis, and a fun time was had by all.

Living with Hepatitis B

Join CDC and HBF for a World Hepatitis Day Twitter Chat

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Are you planning to join us for the World Hepatitis Day Twitter Chat on Friday, July 27th? The CDC and HBF will be hosting a Twitter Chat at 2 pm EDT.  Are you thinking, “What… me??  I don’t know how to use twitter!!” Well, get-on- board with twitter before July 27th and join us!

What is twitter?  Twitter allows you to stay connected or exchange short messages called tweets with friends, family, co-workers, organizations and partners, and the world at large. You can tweet from your computer, your laptop, i-pad or smartphone. You can use it to update your status on the go, or in HBF’s case, use it to educate and raise hepatitis B awareness.  We also use it to send out current or new information on hepatitis B and to make our resources available to others.  If you are a hepatitis B advocate, twitter is a great outlet to get your message out there.

What is a handle? Your twitter username is your handle. For example HBF’s twitter handle is @HepBFoundation. Handles are preceded with a @symbol. You can find us at www.twitter.com/HepBFoundation.

What is a tweet? A tweet is basically a short message or status that you post to twitter. You can compose a tweet by clicking on the blue compose button in the top right corner, or from the “Compose New Tweet” box (top left after you login) Tweets are kept at 140 characters or less. If you make your tweets about 10 characters shorter, you’ll leave room for others to easily retweet your messages.  Don’t worry. Twitter does the counting for you.

Your message can be just that – a message: “2 billion people in the world have been infected with #hepatitis B”, or you can add a reference to the source such as HBF’s website where you can find this quote  A URL shortener will be invoked to take that long URLs like  http://www.hepb.org/hepb/statistics.htm  and turn it into: http://ow.ly/ciWvu

What is a retweet? A retweet or RT is when you repost someone else’s tweet so it will be shared with your followers. It lets everyone know you like that message and lets you spread the word.  Retweeting is a great way to get started if you’re a little nervous about composing your own tweets.  To retweet, all you need to do is put your cursor over a tweet that you like, and you’ll see retweet highlighted. Click and you’ve just done your first retweet!

What’s a hashtag? A hashtag allows you to categorize messages in twitter.  You precede a keyword with a hashtag, or the “#” symbol, to note a topic of interest. I typically use simple twitter hashtags such as #hepatitis B, or #HBV in my messages so that others interested in HBV topics will see my tweets. Rather than put them at the end of a tweet, I typically work them into my message. For example: “There are 400 million people chronically infected with #hepatitis B in the world.” Lots of viral hepatitis followers are using the #hepatitis hashtag, so they are sure to see my posted tweet. The hashtag will allow them to easily search twitter from the search box (top right) in twitter and retweet my message.  It might also encourage them to follow me since hepatitis B is an interest that we share. When I see tweeps tweeting with the #hepatitis hashtag, I tend to follow them, and if they continue to post good content, I might even add them to one of my twitter lists.

What is a Tweep? A tweep is a twitter user.

Getting Started.  All you need to get started is an email account, a picture or logo (though twitter will assign you their default image if you don’t upload one, so don’t let that stop you.), and a statement about you or your organization.

Go to www.twitter.com and sign up for a new account. It’s really pretty simple. If you have your email and image ready to upload, you can be in and out in a few minutes. Twitter will walk you through the whole thing – nothing tricky!

So what should you do to become familiar with twitter? Assuming you plan to follow what’s new in the world of hepatitis B, our twitter chat on the 27th and viral hepatitis events beyond World Hepatitis Day, then consider a few things:

Who do you want to follow? Consider following viral hepatitis organizations like the Hepatitis B Foundation (@HepBfoundation), CDCs Division of Viral Hepatitis (@cdchep), World Hepatitis Alliance (@Hep_Alliance) or other favorite viral hepatitis orgs you may know. You may also consider following medical doctors, journalists, or viral hepatitis advocates you find out there in the big-virtual world. Don’t forget about the community at large. You’ll find others interested in hepatitis B by using the #hepatitis, #HBV or #worldhepday hashtags in the search box. Part of the goal is to educate and raise HBV awareness. At HBF, The world is our target audience. We are happy to follow, or be followed by anyone that is interested in hepatitis B.

Who will follow you? In the beginning, you’re not going to have a lot of followers. Don’t worry about it! Building a following takes time. Slowly but surely as you start participating, you will gain new followers. Start by “retweeting” someone you are following, and most likely they will follow you back if you are helping them get their message out.

The World Hepatitis Day Twitter Chat sounds great! How do I join the conversation? It’s simple. The Twitter Chat starts at 2 pm EDT on Friday, July 27th. Login to your twitter account and be ready to contribute. We will be using the #WHDchat hashtag for this chat. All you need to do is search twitter for the #WHDchat and it will generate a list with all of the tweets from the conversation. If you see a tweet that you like, retweet it.  If you’d like to contribute to the conversation with your own message, compose your tweet and be sure to add the #WHDchat at the end of your tweet or no one will see it.

That’s it! Join the conversation on July 27th at 2 pm EDT!

Baruch S. Blumberg Institute