Bodo Bongomin, Malande Oliver Ombeva
Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Gulu University, Uganda.
The East Africa Centre for Vaccines and Immunization (ECAVI), Kampala, Uganda.
Pan Afr Med J. 2017 Jun 22;27(Suppl 3):19. doi: 10.11604/pamj.supp.2017.27.3.11544. eCollection 2017.
Vertical Transmission of hepatitis B virus is a major route through which children acquire Hepatitis B infection. Only 10 out of 47 countries in Africa, and none from East Africa; have implemented the WHO recommendation of introducing a birth-dose of hepatitis B vaccine in their EPI program. This article therefore examines the challenges as well as the opportunities that exists for the introduction of a birth-dose of hepatitis vaccine in the National Expanded Program for Immunization (EPI) program by countries in the East African Region. It explores probable health systems factors that have hindered the countries from introducing the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine and proposes actions that countries can take to introduce the vaccine based on their context by drawing on the experience of some Asian countries.
乙型肝炎病毒的垂直传播是儿童感染乙型肝炎的主要途径。在非洲47个国家中，只有10个国家实施了世界卫生组织关于在其扩大免疫规划（EPI）中引入首剂乙肝疫苗的建议，东非地区没有一个国家实施。因此，本文探讨了东非地区各国在国家扩大免疫规划（EPI）中引入首剂乙肝疫苗所面临的挑战和机遇。它探讨了可能阻碍这些国家引入首剂乙肝疫苗的卫生系统因素，并借鉴一些亚洲国家的经验，提出各国可根据自身情况采取的引入该疫苗的行动。
