To Stop a Deadly Cancer, Turn Everyone Into a ‘Hero’

How Reducing the Stigma Against Hepatitis B Saved the Lives of Asian Immigrants and the Native Born

How have immigrant communities addressed a rampant disease—and maybe beaten cancer?

Some answers to that question lie in the story of a San Francisco campaign against hepatitis B.

Americans of Asian heritage have by far the highest rates of chronic hepatitis B virus infection; while less than 1% of the total U.S. population has “hep B,” one in ten Asian Americans are infected. And San Francisco, with a large population of residents of Asian heritage, has the highest rate of liver cancer in the country, reflecting in part high levels of …