Leading British South Asian comedians Ali Official, Sukh Ojla, and Eshaan Akbar have come together in support of a new campaign called Hep C, Ki? to raise awareness of hepatitis C and its risk factors in British South Asian communities.
Hep C, Ki? is a campaign led by Gilead Sciences and The Hepatitis C Trust, with the support of NHS England, that uses comedy to break down barriers of stigma and fuel conversations around hepatitis C and its associated risk factors in British South Asian communities.
The prevalence of hepatitis C is higher in British South Asian communities (1.1%) compared to the wider UK population (0.2%) and it is estimated that as many as half of people living with the disease are unaware they have it.
The campaign urges those who may have been exposed to the virus either in England or when travelling abroad to speak to their healthcare provider to see if testing is currently available in their local area. You can find out further information about the campaign at hepc.co.uk.
In an exclusive chat with Asian Voice, Sukh Ojla shared her perspective on her craft, the campaign and more.
Why are South Asians apprehensive of scientific data and more inclined towards home remedies? It's quite prevalent in almost every family, but what do you think has kept this misnomer legacy going?
Home remedies can be very effective in some situations, for example, a bit of a summer sniffle. I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to my Mum for not drinking haldi milk when she told me to! I can understand why some people stick to home remedies rather than going to the doctors. I think potentially it is a generational thing and with health issues such as hepatitis C where there is still a lot of stigma surrounding it, campaigns like Hep C, Ki? which specifically target British South Asian communities and are backed by leading community voices are effective as they help break down barriers and educate people about the importance of seeing their GP.
As a comic artist and writer, what kind of responsibility and creative challenges do you face in order to deliver a message (like awareness of Hepatitis C) and also make sure that the audience is entertained?
For me personally, I like to connect with audiences through humour and I think it can be a very useful tool to get a message across in an engaging way. The craft of a comedian is to entertain and keep the audience laughing, however, we are also given a platform and we have a voice and so it is important we use this to raise awareness of important issues like hepatitis C which can lead to significant health problems if it’s not caught early on.
Most of my audience is South Asian, and I have a good understanding of the culture and so I hope that means there is a higher chance of the message connecting with the South Asian community.
In this respect, the Hep C, Ki? campaign, which we worked on with Gilead Sciences, is unconventional as it is not very often you see comedy used as a vehicle to raise awareness of important health issues, but it works brilliantly as a way to explore through light-hearted conversations about South Asian idiosyncrasies the risk factors for contracting hepatitis C.
How imperative do you think are voices like yours, especially in the post-Covid world where there is a dire need to simplify the message for our community and also how would you make sure you're taken seriously in your craft?
There’s a lot of information (useful and fake!) out there to do with various health conditions and it can be overwhelming to try and figure out what’s what. Sometimes it’s easier to take in information if it’s not written down. I know that I’m more likely to watch a short video than read a really long article!
In my solo show, I talk about the stigma of mental health issues amongst British South Asians and I have seen first-hand the positive impact it’s had on audiences, whether that is seeking professional help or giving them a deeper understanding of certain mental illnesses. I think comedy can be an effective vehicle for getting an important message across without being preachy!
