Summary
Worldwide, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is still a major
public health problem. Bangladesh having a large burden
of HBV infection, should be a major contributor towards it’s
elimination by 2030. The country has been making progress
in reducing incidence of HBV infection during the past
decades. The progresses are mainly due to large vaccination
coverage among children and large coverage of timely birthdose
vaccine for prevention of mother-to-child transmission
of HBV. However, Bangladesh still faces challenges in
achieving target of reduction in mortality from HBV. On the
basis of targets of the WHO’s Global health sector strategy
on viral hepatitis 2016–2021, we highlight priorities for
action towards HBV elimination. To attain the target of
reduced mortality we propose that, the service coverage targets
of diagnosis and treatment should be prioritized along with
vaccination. Firstly, improvements are needed in the
diagnostic and treatment abilities of medical institutions
and health workers. Secondly, the government needs to reduce
the costs of health care. Thirdly, better coordination is needed
across existing national program and resources to establish
an integrated system for prevention, screening, diagnosis
and treatment of HBV infection. In this way, we can make
progress towards achieving the target of eliminating HBV
from Bangladesh by 2030.
Key words: Hepatitis B, Elimination, Bangladesh,
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).
(J Bangladesh Coll Phys Surg 2020; 38: 145-149)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3329/jbcps.v38i3.47062