Last week marked the Kick-Off Meeting for “Building a Community of Practice to Support HepB Birth Dose Introduction in the African Region”, a webinar series from CGHE in collaboration with Global Immunization Division/U.S CDC (GID) and WHO. The first installment of this four-part series entitled " The Current State of HepB Birth Dose Introduction Efforts" aimed to convene stakeholders to share ongoing activities related to HepB birth dose introduction and scale-up in the region. Speakers from WHO AFRO and HQ, GAVI, U.S. CDC, CGHE, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Institut Pasteur, Imperial College, and others provided presentations on their HepB birth dose research and technical assistance activities.

While the 2020 target of reducing HBsAg prevalence to less than 1% for children under 5 by 2020 was achieved in most regions of the world, the AFRO region lags behind with a prevalence estimated to be approximately 2.5%.  Globally, 16 countries account for 80% of the prevalence among children with HBV, with nine being from the AFRO region. Hepatitis B Control Immunization 2020 Targets for the AFRO region remain unmet. With an objective of introducing HepB birth dose in at least 25 countries and at least 50% coverage by 2020, these estimates currently stand at 14 and 6%, respectively.

Source of figure: Presentation from Dr. Julien Kabore, WHO AFRO, 17 March 2021

Stakeholder activities within the AFRO region to bolster HepB birth dose introduction and scale up include:

• Strengthening evidence generation through seroprevalence studies
• Establishment and evaluation of vaccine surveillance systems
• Enhancing NITAG capacity for BD recommendation and implementation
• Engaging international partners and civil society

To view presentation slide decks and other relevant information from the following featured speakers, please click here.

• Presentation from Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination by Dr. John Ward
• Update from US CDC by Dr. Rania Tohme
• Update from WHO AFRO by Dr. Julien Kabore
• Update from WHO HQ by Dr. Shalini Desai
• Presentation from Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination by Dr. Henry Njuguna
• Institute Pasteur from Dr. Yusuke Shimakawa
• Update from the University of North Carolina & Albert Einstein College of Medicine by Dr. Peyton Thompson & Dr. Marcel Yotebieng
• Update from Africa CDC by Dr. Nafiisah Chotun
• Update from Imperial College by Dr. Shevanthi Nayagam
• Update from Gavi by Dr. Stephen Sossler
• Update from Imperial College by Dr. Maud Lemoine
• Update from CHAI by Ms. Oriel Fernandes
• Update from World Hepatitis Alliance by Dr. Dan Adda

Stakeholders will reconvene in Mid-April for “Sharing Country Experiences”, the second meeting on HepB Birth Dose introduction in the African Region.

Learn more here