In a significant milestone, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Wednesday that both Sri Lanka and Maldives have successfully achieved control over the deadly hepatitis B disease.
This comes after an expert panel verified that the two countries have had consistently high coverage of Hepatitis B vaccine doses in infants and a low prevalence of the deadly disease, corroborated through serological surveys conducted recently in both countries.
“I congratulate and commend the Maldives and Sri Lanka on their achievement which once again demonstrates the earnest efforts being made by the health leaders and officials, health workers and the people of these countries towards the health and well-being of communities,” Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia said.
The Expert Panel for Verification of Hepatitis B Control in WHO South-East Asia Region reviewed childhood immunisation data from the Maldives and Sri Lanka that showed consistent over 90 per cent coverage with Hepatitis B vaccine doses provided during infancy for the past many years.
The experts also reviewed the findings of national surveys conducted among children in 2022-2023, in these countries.
“Based on the evidence presented to it, the Expert Panel concluded that the standards required for verification of hepatitis B control have been met in both these countries and hence recommended that this important public health target has been achieved in Maldives and Sri Lanka,” said Dr Supamit Chunsuttiwat, chairperson of the Regional Expert Panel for verification of hepatitis B control in Southeast Asia.
Notably, the two countries join Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Thailand, who achieved the same feat in 2019, WHO stated in the release.
Preventing hepatitis B infection in infancy substantially reduces chronic infections and cases of liver cancer and cirrhosis in adulthood.
Meanwhile, hepatitis control continues to be an important public health initiative in the Southeast Asia Region of WHO, which comprises 11 countries and is home to a quarter of the world’s population.
The region has an estimated 60 million people living with chronic hepatitis B and 2,18,000 people dying every year of hepatitis B and C. Of the people eligible for antiviral treatment, only about 10 per cent know their status and less than 5 per cent of them are on treatment.
