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San Diego, CA 92115
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Hepatitis B Awareness & Colorectal Cancer Detection Outreach, Apr. 20, 2008

The outreach session on Hepatitis B awareness and Colorectal cancer detection at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in San Diego on 4-20-08 was a well-attended event. This was the second time the Asian Pacific Health Center held an educational activity at this location. Advertised in the Free Viet News, a major Vietnamese weekly newspaper, and announced after services at the church, the event drew nearly 35 attendees.

At 10:00 AM, UCSD School of Pharmacy student pharmacists were on site, helping with the set-up. At 10:30 AM , Mr. Nghiep Le, Assistant Minister, welcomed all, and introduced Judy Nguyen, a 4th year UCSD medical student, who spoke on Awareness of Hepatitis B, a major disease affecting the Asian community. She then presented a video sketch of a four-generation family who has Hepatitis B, and is eager to learn the steps to ensure that the youngest offspring is protected against the disease. The video was realized by the University of Washington at Seattle.

A survey pre and post the talk was performed by the attendees and the pharmacy students. During the questions and answers session, Dr Ton Tran helped with much insight from his daily practice. Dr Happy Araneta from the UCSD Department of Family and Preventive Medicine was among the audience to evaluate Judy’s presentation.

In the second part of the program, Dr. Ton gave an overview on Colorectal Cancer Detection in the Vietnamese population.  Colorectal cancer is third after prostate and lung cancers in men, and breast and lung cancers in women according to 2005 data from the American Cancer Society. Most of colorectal cancers occur after age 50, thus screening is an important tool for detecting cases starting at that age. Screening methods comprise: Stool blood tests including fecal occult blood test and fecal immunochemical test, Flexible sigmoidoscopy, Barium enema with air contrast, Colonoscopy, and Virtual Colonoscopy. Most people with early colon cancer do not have symptoms. Changes in bowel habits, bleeding from the rectum or blood in the stool, and various symptoms like abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, weight loss, fatigue may alert the physician to possible disease.

Questions revolved around the preponderance of Hepatitis B vs Hepatitis C and A. A male attendee shared his own case of colorectal cancer. He got an MRI with questionable results. He started to use non-traditional medicines on the advice of friends, with the hope to curb the disease. After spending thousands of dollars on a powder mixture without effect, he finally resorted to surgery.

Binh Tran spoke on the Eligibility of patients for the Cancer Detection Program funded by the state.  The Asian Pacific Health Center is in the 4th year of a grant from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure – San Diego to help patients who have no insurance get free yearly mammograms and Pap smears to detect breast and cervical cancers.

A catered lunch was graciously provided by Crawdaddy’s Seafood restaurant through the help of Judy Nguyen, and enjoyed by all before the meeting was ended at 12:30 PM. Our sincere thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Nghiep Le, the many members of the Church who helped with the arrangement of the premises, and all the participants at the outreach session.


Present at the meeting:

from the Seventh Day Adventist Church
Mr. Nghiep Le, Assistant Minister
Lan Q Le
Thuy Duong Tran
Tom Tran
Kim Loan Bui
Ngoc Anh Pho
Son Thanh Ho, MD
Theresa Nguyen
Hong Lai
Susan Tran
Son Tran
Doan Do
Tri Do
Khanh Le
Binh Do, Former Pastor
Rot Nguyen
Trong Do
Tam Nguyen
Liem Thanh Do
Kim Chi Do

from the APHC
Ton Tran , MD , Medical Director
Binh Tran, PharmD, Executive Director

from UCSD School of Medicine
Happy Araneta, MD, Faculty, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine
Judy Nguyen, MS4

from the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Karen Anderson
Grace Kim
Lily Lau
Amie Nguyen
Tuan Nguyen
Kacie Sasaki
Cassie Schmid
Jamie Eichhorn
Ai-Hang Do
[all 2nd year student pharmacists]


Binh Nhung Tran, PharmD
Executive Director
Asian Pacific Health Center