Hepatitis B Misinformation on TV drama

Received news about hep B misinformation that was on a popular Chinese TV drama, Woju or Dwelling Narrowness.  The article from Global Times, “Fuss over TV Drama’s Line,” details an account where one of the characters on the show INCORRECTLY reprimands her sister for not washing her hands, warning her that she’ll contract hepatitis B and subsequently won’t get a job.  The lack of correct education is frustrating – it is really unfortunate that this popular show’s line perpetuated the misconception about the transmission route for hepatitis B (which is ONLY blood transmission) with that of hepatitis A. However, I will give it that it touches upon the discrimination that is still in effect in China.

But here’s the kicker: The article continues to recount how the show is deleting the phrase before re-airing the episode (small victory!), but also mentions some of the public’s outcry that deleting that line was an overreaction, that the person who complained was being radical, and the deletion was not sensitive to the public’s feelings. I can’t express how incredibly frustrated this makes me. I support the deletion and believe it is not a radical or an overreaction, and in fact is a step in the right direction for human rights and fixing misconceptions. It’s clear that much more education needs to be done to lift misconceptions about hepatitis B’s transmission.

Amy

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