Every day pregnant women living with hepatitis B undiagnosed unknowingly pass on hepatitis B to their babies, putting their child at higher risk of liver cancer. Without preventive measures, 90% of babies born to hepatitis B positive mothers develop a chronic hepatitis B infection.
Ending mother-to-child transmission is key to hepatitis elimination. The first step to achieving that is to test all pregnant women for hepatitis B as part of routine antenatal services. Women living with hepatitis B can then be linked to care and their babies vaccinated against hepatitis B. The hepatitis B vaccine is safe, effective and affordable. Despite this, only 13% of people living with chronic hepatitis B have been diagnosed and 45% of newborns received the hepatitis B birth vaccine within 24 hours of birth.
Our ask is simple:
The WHO recommends, when possible, taking the steps below to adequately care for expectant mothers and protect their babies.
Help us guide women through hepatitis B in pregnancy by sharing the prevention of mother-to-child transmission flyers for mums and their families, and healthcare professionals.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 254 million people are living with chronic hepatitis B infection worldwide and about 1 million people die every year as a consequence of the virus. A large majority of people who die as a consequence of the virus contracted the virus before the age of five. Babies up to six months old who contract hepatitis B from mother-to-child transmission have a 90% risk of developing chronic hepatitis B infections, as opposed to 30% among children infected between one and four years old and less than 5% in otherwise healthy adults who contract the virus.
Elimination of hepatitis B requires a 90% reduction of new infections and without addressing the mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B, the main route for hepatitis B transmission, elimination will stay out of reach. WHO recommends that all expectant mothers get tested and linked to care, and all babies to receive a birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, followed by two or three doses to complete the primary series.
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If you or someone you know have been affected by viral hepatitis and are willing to share your story and tell the world what the prevention of mother-to-child transmission means to you then please get in touch so we can share your story.
You can contact us at connect@nohep.org.
Watch our 2021 NOhep Mums webinar and learn more about the importance of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of hepatitis B.
