Tuesday, May 19, is the fourth annual National Hepatitis Testing Day (NHTD), which raises awareness for hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) and encourages more people across the United States to learn their hepatitis status, according to AIDS.gov, which also promotes awareness of hepatitis.

NHTD was established in 2011 with the release of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Action Plan for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis. Free testing, advocacy, vaccination and education events take place across the country to honor the designation. To find an awareness day event near you, click here.

Online outreach tools for the awareness day also include a five-minute online Hepatitis Risk Assessment created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a new “Know Hepatitis B” multilingual campaign targeted at Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (among whom one in 12 are living with HBV), and a “Know More Hepatitis” initiative, which encourages HCV testing among baby boomers born between 1945 and 1965.

The CDC Division of Viral Hepatitis has also created an array of digital tools, including an embeddable quiz widget and hepatitis awareness badges, posters and banners that are ready to download for people to use to help raise awareness.

Also, hepatitis advocates are being asked by the CDC Twitter account @cdchep to participate in a Be #HepAware social media thunderclap on May 19 at noon Eastern time. For the thunderclap, users can sign up in advance to share a unified message on their Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr accounts that will help spread the word about viral hepatitis across social media. To join the effort, click here.  

The CDC estimates that more than 4 million Americans are living with chronic hepatitis in the United States, and that most do not know their status. For more information about viral hepatitis, click here.