Today, May 15, marks National Hispanic Hepatitis Awareness Day. Research has shown that Latino people are often less likely to be screened for hepatitis compared with other racial groups and therefore may not receive a timely diagnosis or treatment.

The Latino Commission on AIDS (LCOA) leads this initiative annually to educate the Latino community about viral hepatitis, increase testing and address ways to reduce viral hepatitis-related health disparities.

From 2013 to 2016, Latinos made up about 4% of reported cases of chronic hepatitis C despite having relatively high rates of hepatitis C–related deaths, according to HispanicHepatitisDay.org.

This year, LCOA collaborated with HepVu, a data visualization resource that tracks data on hepatitis, including estimates of people living with hepatitis C across the United States, to host a webinar today, May 15, 2023.

The webinar will present new data from HepVu about the need for viral hepatitis surveillance across the country, specifically in areas with significant Latino populations. The webinar will feature Heather Bradley, PhD, MHS, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health and Emory University, who serves as a project director for HepVu.

HepVu will also be releasing updated infographics in English and Spanish about the importance of testing and getting vaccinated.

For more information, click HepVu’s Hepatitis Awareness Month Toolkit for statistics, infographics and facts about the different types of hepatitis.