HBI-DC has created public-private partnerships among community-based organizations (CBOs), faith-based (FBOs), medical associations, clinics, hospitals, and health departments, while maintaining grassroots activities. For over 10 years, HBI-DC has served economically disadvantaged individuals who do not have adequate access to health care.

We have worked with trusted leaders and physicians from the Asian and Pacific Islander and African communities. Over the years we have built the capacity to reach country-level ethnic groups in order to address unique health disparities and improve health equity and continue to reach new ethnic groups each year. Through collaborative partnerships, HBI-DC participates in over 50 community events (health fairs, walks, health days at places of worship, designated screening events) annually to screen over 2,000 individuals for HBV and HCV.

When patients have been identified as testing positive for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and/or HIV, we link them to care and/or treatment services. Our partnerships extend to physicians in DC, Maryland, and Virginia who provide their services pro bono at our health screening events. These physicians are a part of HBI-DC’s leadership circle.

With these collaborations, HBI-DC serves as a community connector for resources. Although we do not convene a formal coalition meeting for viral hepatitis in the DC metropolitan area, our approach has proven to be efficient and effective in addressing the specific needs of the communities that we serve.