Abstract

HEPATITIS-B; A PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN - NEED FOR AN ACTION.

Fazili Anjum, Mushtaq Beenish, Qadri Syed Shuja*, Javaid Ahmad, Sameena Yousuf Dar and Ali Darakshan

ABSTRACT

Hepatitis B (HBV) infection is a serious global health issue with 2 billion people infected worldwide and 350 million suffering from chronic HBV infection. As hepatitis B is the only vaccine preventable disease among all forms of viral hepatitis- mass immunization program, standard precautions and effective treatment are essential for eliminating HBV infection and reducing global HBV-related morbidity and mortality. However, not all countries have adopted these recommendations and there remain a large number of issues that need to be addressed for achieving the desired results.

Keywords: Hepatitis B vaccine, Endemicity, Post exposure prophylaxis.