The battle to defeat hepatitis B has been a major research and public health challenge in the United States and the Hepatitis B Foundation has been at the forefront to help turn the tide. This past year we actively reached out to public officials, policy makers and the media to build awareness about the serious impact of hepatitis B in our society and to advocate for increased funding for this urgent health priority. Our Call to Action has resulted in successful advocacy initiatives that are significantly moving our research and public health agenda forward. 
We hosted the second Congressional Briefing on Hepatitis B on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 11, with the goal of prioritizing hepatitis B as an urgent health issue among key policy makers. It also served as a high-profile kick-off for National Hepatitis B Awareness Week, which was first designated by a Congressional resolution in May 2005, thanks to the efforts of the HBF and its partners!
For the third year, we have participated as the lead advocacy organization in the national AIM for the B public awareness campaign, which includes press conferences, patient roundtables, and interviews to help promote hepatitis B as a public health priority.
We helped initiate historic, bi-partisan legislation focused on hepatitis B in Congress in 2006. The National Hepatitis B Act calls for funding of a national plan to combat hepatitis B, including immunization, screening and more federal funding for research and education.
The first-ever national strategy, Eliminating Hepatitis: A Call to Action, was published in May 2006 by the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable, a coalition of 120 nonprofit organizations, and led by the HBF.
(Photo: HBF Executive Director Ms. Molli Conti presents the NVHR national strategy for the elimination of viral hepatitis to Congressman Charles Dent (PA-left) and Mike Honda (CA-right) on the Capitol steps in Washington, D.C., May 10, 2006)
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