Hepatitis B – Get Vaccinated

Getting immunised is the best way of preventing hepatitis B infection. More than one billion doses of the hepatitis B vaccine have been used since the early 1980s and it has been shown to be effective in approximately 95% of cases. There is currently no vaccine for hepatitis C.

Vaccination Around the World

Despite its excellent record, the hepatitis B vaccine is unfortunately not available in all parts of the world. As of March 2006, 158 countries had included the vaccine on their national immunisation schedules, including most countries in East and South- East Asia, the Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand, North and South America, Western Europe and the Middle East.

Since 1991, the World Health Organization has called for all countries to add hepatitis B vaccine into their national schedules but many low income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent, as well as a number of other countries (including Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) do not have universal vaccine programmes. Today 350 million people around the world are living with a disease that can be prevented and which kills approximately one million people every year.

350 Million People – A Price Worth Paying?

The price of the hepatitis B vaccine has been one of the main obstacles to its introduction in many countries, but since its creation in 2000, the GAVI Alliance has been instrumental in helping people get access to the hepatitis B vaccine. The World Health Organization estimates show that 158.6 million additional children have been immunised against the disease for the period 2000-2007.

If you think you might be at risk of hepatitis B you should ask your doctor for information about immunisation.