From left: Julie Soo of the event’s dinner committee, co-emcees Yul Kwon and Jan Yanehiro, and Kwon’s fiancee, Sophie Tan. Photo by J.K. Yamamoto

Hep B Free San Francisco, a campaign to stop hepatitis B in the Asian American community, held its “B a Hero” fundraising gala on Sept. 18 at the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

The campaign includes public education of all residents of the city and screening, vaccinating and treating all Asian Pacific Islander Americans, who are disproportionately affected by the disease.

San Francisco Hep B Free partners with health facilities to provide free or low-cost screenings and develop resources for a referral network that links HBV-infected patients to care.

The disease, which is preventable, is known as a silent killer because there are often no symptoms associated with the virus. By the time symptoms do show, it is often too late for many of the treatment options.

The gala was emceed by Yul Kwon of “Survivor” fame and TV personality Jan Yanehiro. Kwon has been using his celebrity to promote such community causes as Hep B Free and the Asian American Donor Program.

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco), honorary chair of Hep B Free, noted that one of 10 Asian Americans is infected with chronic HBV — compared to one in 1,000 in the general population — and one in four of those will die of liver cancer without treatment or monitoring. The disease is said to take a life every 30 seconds.

Although Ma showed no signs of the disease herself, she learned through testing that she had contracted it from her mother through perinatal exposure, a common means of transmission among APIs.

Dr. John Ward of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the CDC is instituting new national recommendations to increase routine testing for chronic HBV. Other speakers included Mitch Katz, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Dr. Robert Gish, and San Francisco Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier.

The speakers noted that San Francisco, the first city in the nation to pass a resolution calling for universal hepatitis B screening and vaccination for API residents, is serving as a model for other cities.

San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting presented a commendation on behalf of the city to brothers James Fang, president of AsianWeek, and Ted Fang of the AsianWeek Foundation, who has been a driving force behind the campaign.

The foundation organizes the annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration, which has prominently featured HBV testing. Celebrities like Kwon and Erwin and Godwin Cho of "The Amazing Race," along with political leaders like Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose), have attended the event to promote the campaign.

Ted Fang presented “B a Hero” Awards to major supporters of the campaign: Bristol Meyers Squibb, represented by Allan Brooks; Chinese Hospital, represented by Brenda Yee; and Janet Zola, health promotion specialist with the San Francisco Department of Public Health. In addition to the award, each received a Superman-style cape (with a "B" instead of an "S"), a recurring motif throughout the evening.

Event sponsors Catholic Healthcare West, St. Mary’s Medical Center and St. Francis Memorial Hospital were also recognized.

Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi attended the pre-dinner reception.

Entertainment was provided by Alice Yau and 21 Flights West during the reception and San Francisco Taiko Dojo, Yau Kung Moon Lion Dance Troupe and Red Panda Acrobats during the dinner.

For more information on the campaign, visit www.sfhepbefree.org.

Another resource for information on HBV in the Asian American community is the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University, http://liver.stanford.edu/.