SF Hepatitis B Free Coalition Reception at The Consulate General of Japan

From left to right: Diana Huang, Jun Yamada, Kristine Tulio, Larry Vitale - Photo by Larry Wong.

On February 25, 2016, Larry Vitale (School of Nursing Senior Lecturer), Kristine Tulio (GMSN level 7), and Diana Huang (Fall 2015 GMSN graduate) were recognized at a reception at the private residence of Jun Yamada, Consul General of Japan. The reception was in support of the activities of the SF Hepatitis B Free Coalition. This reception was attended by approximately 100 members of the SF community representing a diverse set of interests from the business, civic, and healthcare communities. Special mention was made of the SF State School of Nursing and the NSA’s Hep Be Free SF Ambassador program that links student nurse volunteers with the outreach and educational activities of the SF Hep B Free Coalition. In Japan, approximately 1.5 million Japanese are infected by hepatitis B, and over 30,000 Japanese die each year from liver cancer. United as a community under the SF Hep B Free initiative, we bolstered our continued efforts to eradicate the health disparity of hepatitis B in our local Asian Pacific Islander community.