Central Ohio is home to some 70,000 Asian immigrants. And advocates
worry a silent deadly disease is hidden in the population. Immigrants
from Asia and some African nations face a greater risk for Hepatitis B
and may not know they have it. That’s why local health workers are
screening them for the contagious disease.
“Do you have a family doctor? Yes, but I don’t know the name of the doctor.”
18 year old Assa Zautam translates health care questions for her
neighbor at the Saraga International Grocery store on Morse Road.
Zautam is from the newest group of South Asian immigrants called the
Butanese-Nepali. Her family is from Nepal but was forced to flee to
nearby Butan. The family lived in a refugee camp for two decades before
arriving in Columbus this year.
Zautam decides that she will get tested for Hepatitis B.
Read more... Labels: African immigrants, Asian immigrants, Ohio