Teen VAX aims Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu, deputy surgeon general, joined state officials today in launching Teen VAX, a campaign to immunize Hawaii teenagers against hepatitis B disease.
to nip hepatitis B
in the bud
The state-launched program is
targeting the isle's high rate
of the deadly diseaseStar-Bulletin staff
The state Health Department has been pushing student immunizations for hepatitis B for seven years to try to reduce Hawaii's chronic hepatitis B rate, which is six times higher than the national average.
A Hawaii native who attended Chaminade College and the University of Hawaii, Moritsugu said he is "pleased to be able to support Hawaii in its battle against hepatitis B.
"Every year, up to 200,000 people in the United States are infected, and there are approximately 5,000 hepatitis B-related deaths," he said, adding that projects such as the Hawaii campaign will help to fight the high hepatitis B rates.
Also stressing the importance of immunizing teens were acting Gov. Mazie Hirono and state Health Director Bruce Anderson.
Hirono said adolescents are at great risk of contracting hepatitis B because of Hawaii's high rates of the contagious disease.
"Reaching out to our families to educate them about the real dangers of this serious disease and providing them with a cost-effective way to protect their children is a very important mission, and one that I hope Hawaii's families will use to their advantage," she said.
Free or low-cost immunizations will be provided statewide through December 2002 for children ages 6 through 18, not only for hepatitis B, but for chickenpox, measles, mumps and rubella.
Anderson said the Department of Health is working with health insurers, hospitals and community organizations to encourage teens to get shots. Since hepatitis B vaccine prevents the disease, he said, it is the first anti-cancer vaccine.
The virus can be transmitted from infected to healthy persons through games, sports, sexual activities and other close contact -- even by sharing objects such as toothbrushes, earrings or needles.
Three shots of vaccine are needed in a series for at least 20 years' protection from hepatitis B, often a fatal disease. Newborns have received the first shot in the hospital since 1991.
Since 1996, Anderson said, more than 110,000 island children 6 to 18 years old -- about 43 percent -- have received at least one dose of hepatitis B vaccine in public and private health-care offices. The total is nearly 240,000 doses.
"But the numbers clearly show that our population is still very much at risk despite our work over the years," he said. "Hawaii needs to maintain an aggressive approach in spreading the word about hepatitis B disease and ensuring that our teens are vaccinated."
Children will be urged to get vaccinated through media messages and posters at schools, stores, sporting events and teen gathering places.
For more information about Teen VAX, call the Hawaii Immunization Program at the Health Department, 586-8332. Neighbor islanders may call 1-800-933-4832.