World Health Organization(WHO) estimates that in 2015,
257 million people all over the world were living with
chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and there
occurred 887000 deaths in 2015, mostly from cirrhosis
and primary carcinoma of the liver. As of 2016, 27 million
persons (10.57% of all people estimated to be living
with hepatitis B infection) were aware about the infection.
Left untreated, chronic HBV can lead to cirrhosis, liver
cancer and premature death1. HBV infection most
commonly spreads by mother to child (vertical)
transmission during the perinatal period or horizontal
transmission during childhood. The infection can be
prevented with vaccines that are safe and 98-100%
effective.