Kathmandu, July 26
Nepal has been successful to control the prevalence of hepatitis B disease among the children aged 5 within less than one per cent.
The UN health agency, WHO, hence granted the status of hepatitis B control to Nepal and three other Southeast Asian countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan and Thailand.
This is the first time that any country of the region has achieved the status, according to the WHO South-East Asia Office in New Delhi.
“Unwavering determination to reach every child, everywhere, every time, with life-saving hepatitis B vaccines through childhood immunisation, has made this achievement possible,” WHO Regional Director Poonam Khetrapal Singh says in her statement, “These successes are a testimony of the countries’ commitment to health of their people, and the untiring efforts being made by health workers and communities for the wellbeing of children.”
The Expert Panel for Verification of Hepatitis B Control in WHO South-East Asia Region had recommended verification of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Thailand, after reviewing childhood immunisation data that showed consistent over 90 per cent coverage with hepatitis B vaccine doses provided during infancy for past many years, the statement informs.
Likewise, studies conducted among five-year old children in these countries corroborated the high immunisation rates, and that hepatitis B prevalence in these four countries among children was less than one per cent.
