The best approach to trying to contain hepatitis B (HBV), the ninth leading cause of death in the world and a disease that kills up to 300,000 people in China each year, is through vaccinating newborns. The Foundation provided grants to support a vaccination education program in partnership with the Chinese Ministry of Health and the Chinese Liver Foundation in six rural areas in China.

2003 marked the second and final year of the grant - and included training nearly 2,000 local doctors and other health care workers in preventing HBV, developing a program for video disc and showing a program on local TV stations, in schools and in village health clinics about preventing hepatitis B in rural areas. Parents were also involved in an educational effort about HBV prevention in local schools.

Vaccination rates increased dramatically since the start of the education campaign, from 30-40 percent levels prior to this health education initiative to as high as 97 percent in one rural county.

The success of the Hepatitis B Vaccination Education Program gained a commitment from the Chinese Ministry of Health to roll out this training program to the remainder of Shan'xi and Gansu provinces. Based on the highly successful childhood vaccination program, the China Foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control (CFHPC) engaged key opinion leaders to develop a comprehensive strategy to combat the escalating health challenge of hepatitis B infection. This "White Paper" outlined the current and emerging health challenge of HBV infection, the projection of consequences for individual patients, communities at large and the nation as a whole, as well as the necessity for aggressive interventions to prevent an escalating health crisis. The paper stated the importance for all stakeholders - policy makers, health administrators, health care professionals, counselors and private care givers - to take full advantage of dedicated programs offered to educate and intervene towards prevention of further infection. Further, a CFHPC advisory board developed guidelines for prevention and intervention programs with a focus on research and education of rural as well as urban health care providers. This strategic installment in the public health agenda of China was supported by a $50,000 grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation.