NYC Hep B Coalition Meeting Highlights | 7-10-2024

July 10, 2024 (3 – 5 PM)

Attendance: See below

Presentations

Liver Cancer among Sub-Saharan African Immigrants with Hep B in NYC, 2021-2022
Holly Anger, MPH, Senior Surveillance Analyst & Research Scientist, Viral Hepatitis Program, NYC Health Department – hanger@health.nyc.gov

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Key Analysis Questions:
- Are Sub-Saharan African Immigrants with Hep B and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) more likely to be diagnosed with:
  - HCC at earlier ages?
  - Hep B and HCC at the same time?
To understand how HCC affects the Sub-Saharan immigrant population, it is helpful to look at the rate, which estimates what percentage of a population is diagnosed with the condition.
In NYC, Sub-Saharan African Immigrants with Hep B had a 4x higher likelihood of being diagnosed with HCC at young ages, less than 40, compared to US-born people with HCC.

Perinatal Hep B Surveillance and Case Management Outcomes
Julie Lazaroff, MPH, Unit Chief – Perinatal Hep B Prevention Unit, NYC Health Department – jlazarof@health.nyc.gov

Presented surveillance methods used to identify cases of Hep B in pregnant and post-natal persons and case management outcomes for infants born to a person with Hep B
87% of cases identified in 2023 were reported during the prenatal period
- Electronic laboratory reports with pregnancy status and Regional Health Information Organizations notification improved prenatal reporting
Of the 643 infants born in 2022, 534 (83.0%) were tested for Hep B; of those tested, 516 (96.6%) were immune, 0 (0.0%) had Hep B, and the remaining 15 were either susceptible (6) or the test results were indeterminate (9).
- Documentation of case management outcomes of infants born to a person with Hep B also improved with mandated laboratory reporting of Hep B test results for persons < = 5 yrs of age.

Hep B Program Highlight: African Services Committee (ASC)
Ibrahima Sankare, Outreach and Testing Assistant, African Services Committee – ibrahimas@africanservices.org

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From July 2023 – June 2024, ASC performed 771 Hep B tests, of which 39 were positive for Hep B.
Challenges to receiving care:
- Medical Insurance
- Language barriers, many clients only speak Wolof and Pulaar
- Lack of Transportation
- Immigration Status.

Viral Hepatitis Elimination Plan Update
Reed Vreeland, MPA, Viral Hepatitis Elimination Coordinator/Policy Analyst, Viral Hepatitis Program, NYC Health Department – rvreeland@health.nyc.gov

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Hep Free NYC Committee Updates

Advocacy Committee
Meg Chappell, MPH, Program Manager, Empire Liver Foundation – megchappell@empireliverfoundation.org

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NYC Council Viral Hepatitis initiative FY 25 Budget Season
- Check out the FY2025 Adopted Expense Budget
Join Hep Free NYC Advocacy Listserv for updates
Interested in joining the Advocacy Leadership Committee, email megchappell@empireliverfoundation.org

Coalition against Hepatitis in People of African Origin (CHIPO) – NYC Committee
Sarah Ahmed, MPH, CHES, Social Marketing Project Director, Viral Hepatitis Program, NYC Health Department – sahmed10@health.nyc.gov

Farma Pene recently transitioned out of CHIPO-NYC committee leadership and we appreciate her for all the collective goals she helped achieve. We are excited to continue our work in eliminating Hep B and C with people of African origin and expand to other Black diasporas in NYC.

South Asian hepatitis Initiative (SAHI)
Adeeba Khan, Projects Coordinator, Viral Hepatitis Program, NYC Health Department – akhan8@health.nyc.gov

3 South Asian organizations – South Asian Council for Social Services, Council of People Organization and Project New Yorker – joined us to raise awareness for Hep B and C in NYC.
2 South Asian organizations – New Yorker Project and South Asian Council for Social Services – applied to the Hep B United Mini Grant!
Interested in collaborating with other South Asian partners, email news@hepfree.nyc

Communications Committee
Alma Chaves, MPH, Projects Coordinator, Viral Hepatitis Program, NYC Health Department – achaves@health.nyc.gov

Interested in creating video /audio content of educational material, email news@hepfree.nyc
Upcoming meeting: August 14, 2024 (1 – 2 PM). RSVP

Attendance:

Aaron Rak, VBI Vaccines, arak@vbivaccines.com
Adeeba Khan, Program Coordinator, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, akhan8@health.nyc.gov
Alexandra Dutan, Patient Navigator, NYU Langone Hospitals, alexandra.dutan@nyulangone.org
Alma Chaves, Program Coordinator, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, achaves@health.nyc.gov
Alvin Htut, Dr., Northwell Health – Health System, ahtut@northwell.edu
Anne Mcdonald, HRTP Intern, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, amcdonald@health.nyc.gov
Assita Belemkoabga, Associate Researcher, Mount Sinai Health System, assita.belemkoabga@mssm.edu
Betty Lee, NP, Mobile Health, Harlem United, blee@harlemunited.org
Christina Boynes, Community Health Worker, BronxCare Health System, cboynes@bronxleb.org
Cynthia Ortigoza, Surveillance Analyst, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, cortigoza@health.nyc.gov
Denise Williams, Case Manager, Sun River Health, dwilliams@sunriver.org
Diana Diaz Munoz, Capacity Building Director – Viral Hepatitis Program, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, ddiazmunoz@health.nyc.gov
Elizabeth Colon, Community Health Worker, BronxCare Health System, ecolon@bronxcare.org
Emily Li, Patient Navigator, Korean Community Services, emily@kcsny.org
Erica Finfer, Project Manager – Perinatal HCV, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, efinfer@health.nyc.gov
Erin Swepston, Clinical Advisor/VHP Program Director, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, eswepston@health.nyc.gov
Farah Riazi, Health Care Practice Facilitation Project Director, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, friazi@health.nyc.gov
Fatima Omarufilo, Patient Navigator, Montefiore Medical Center, alabaran@montefiore.org
Francina Collado, Hep C Care Coordinator, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, francina.collado@mssm.edu
Frank Winter, External Affairs, Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, frank.winter@cms.hhs.gov
Heather Richmond, Dynavax Technologies, hrichmond@dynavax.com
Holly Anger, Senior Surveillance and Research Scientist, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, hanger@health.nyc.gov
HuiChen Wu, Assistant Professor, Columbia University, hw2057@cumc.columbia.edu
Ibrahima Sankare, Testing Assistant and Outreach, African Services Committee, ibrahimas@africanservices.org
Jackilyn Rivera, Community Project Coordinator, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, jrivera20@health.nyc.gov
James Park, Physician, Northwell Health – Health System, jpark42@northwell.edu
Jessica Rivera, Sr. Public Health Adviser, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, jrivera24@health.nyc.gov
Jiehui (Joy) Zhu, Patient Navigator, Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, jizhu@cbwchc.org
Jielei (Jenny) Wong, Health Educator/ Patient Navigator, Seventh Avenue Family Health Center at NYU Langone, jielei.wong@nyulangone.org
Joelle Bodeta, Hepatitis Patient Navigator, NYC Health + Hospitals – Elmhurst Hospital Center, bodetaj@nychhc.org
Jose Ortega, Supervisor, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, jose.ortega@maryland.gov
Joy Cambe, Program Coordinator, Empire Liver Foundation, joycambe@empireliverfoundation.org
Jules Levin, NATAP, julev@aol.com
Julia Cohen, Viral Hepatitis Informatics Manager, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, jcohen8@health.nyc.gov
Julie Lazaroff, Unit Chief, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, jlazarof@health.nyc.gov
Kevin Sanders, Viral Hepatitis Coordinator, St. Louis County Department of Health, ksanders2@stlouiscountymo.gov
Leandra Ureña, Hep C Community Navigation Program Coordinator, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, lurea@health.nyc.gov
Liz Tang, Telenavigation Project Director, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, ltang@health.nyc.gov
Marie Bresnahan, Director Training, Policy and Administration, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, mbresnahan@health.nyc.gov
Mary Chiang, Patient Navigator, Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, mchiang@cbwchc.org
Meg Chappell, Program Manager, Empire Liver Foundation, megchappell@empireliverfoundation.org
Melanie Askari, EIS Student, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, maskari@health.nyc.gov
Minhee Lee, Senior Project Coordinator, Korean Community Services, mlee@kcsny.org
Rafael Frias, Harlem United, rfrias@harlemunited.org
Rahel Yosief, Program Coordinator, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, ryosief@health.nyc.gov
Raphise Etienne , Sr. Public Health Adviser, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, retienne@health.nyc.gov
Reed Vreeland, Viral Hepatitis Research Analyst, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, rvreeland@health.nyc.gov
Samantha Carpen, Enhanced Surveillance Investigator, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, scarpen1@health.nyc.gov
Sara Kim, Program Director, Korean Community Services, skim@kcsny.org
Sarah Ahmed, Social Marketing Project Director, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, sahmed10@health.nyc.gov
Sarah Weihl, Health Care Access Specialist, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, sweihl@health.nyc.gov
Shamar Smalls, Project Coordinator, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, ssmalls1@health.nyc.gov
Stephanie Udeji, Public Health Advisor, NYC Health + Hospitals – Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center, udejis1@nychhc.org
Stephanie Sabala, African Services Committee, stephanies@africanservices.org
Steven Chang, New York Presbyterian Hospitals, stc7003@nyp.org
Tasnim Bhuiyan, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, tasnim.bhuiyan@mssm.edu
Umaima Khatun, Program Manager, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, ukhatun@health.nyc.gov
Vanessa Degale, Navigator Supervisor, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, vdegale@health.nyc.gov
Versalle Shelton, Clinical Practice Facilitator, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, vshelton@health.nyc.gov
Ying Ying Zhang, Sr. Public Health Adviser, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, yzhang6@health.nyc.gov

Last Updated on July 23, 2024 by HepFree NYC