Vision is becoming reality at San Francisco State University for the S.F. Hep B Free campaign.
Ingrid Ochoa, SFSU’s Student Health Services’ health educator, is leading the charge at the campus. Though she has only recently joined the Student Health Services’ team, she has become the lynchpin in SFSU’s efforts to make San Francisco the first city to test and vaccinate all Asian and Pacific Islanders for hepatitis B.
Ochoa has recruited and trained a team of PEACHs (Peer Educators Advocating Campus Health) to spread their newfound knowledge to the rest of the campus about hepatitis B. They were among the more than dozen students and staff to attend the Feb. 15 community education workshop held by the campaign at the health center to learn about hep B.
The grassroots effort looks to energize students at the campus on this important issue. With an Asian student population of 36.7 percent, the school is playing an integral part in helping to eradicate this health disparity, starting with a pre-kickoff event on Feb. 25 at the school’s Malcolm X Plaza from noon to 2 p.m., and culminating with a week of free screenings and vaccinations alternating between the Student Health Services and Tower Conference from March 3–7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This has been seven months in the making as SFSU committed to on-campus testing and vaccination early on to support the campaign.
“Giving back to the community, it’s what it’s all about,” Ochoa said. “The best part about my work is that I’m able to pass the torch to the next generation of advocates.”
A Los Angeles native, Ochoa is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and received her master’s in public health with an emphasis on community health education from SFSU in 2006; she is the first from her family to attend and graduate college.
Her hep B advice to those at risk: “Get tested — make a difference!”
For more information on the upcoming hep B events at SFSU, contact Ingrid Ochoa at (415) 338-2191 or iochoa@sfsu.edu.
Thanh Huynh is the administrative coordinator of the AsianWeek Foundation. If you are interested in participating in the S.F. Hep B Free campaign or becoming a community partner, visit sfhepbfree.org or e-mail thuynh@awfoundation.com.
