Chao Stephanie D, Chang Ellen T, So Samuel K
The Asian Liver Center at Stanford University, Stanford School of Medicine, CA, USA.
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2009 Jul-Sep;10(3):507-12.
Chronic hepatitis B in the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) population is among our nation's greatest ethnic and racial health disparities. Despite comprising 4.3% of the population, API make up a disproportionate half of the 1.2-2 million Americans living with chronic hepatitis B. As many as two-thirds of API are not aware of their infection because they have not been tested. This lack of knowledge prevents them from undergoing life-saving liver cancer screening and potential treatment. Likewise, those not protected are unaware that they should be vaccinated. Instead, there is a pervasive lack of awareness among API and healthcare providers. New concerted public health actions are needed to eliminate this major health disparity.
亚太岛民(API)群体中的慢性乙型肝炎是美国最大的种族健康差距之一。尽管API群体仅占美国人口的4.3%,但在120万至200万慢性乙型肝炎患者中,他们却占了不成比例的一半。多达三分之二的API群体不知道自己感染了乙肝,因为他们没有接受检测。这种认知不足使他们无法接受挽救生命的肝癌筛查和潜在治疗。同样,未受保护的人也不知道自己应该接种疫苗。相反,API群体和医疗服务提供者普遍缺乏认知。需要采取新的协调一致的公共卫生行动来消除这一重大的健康差距。