Hepatitis-B: K-P set to launch ‘vaccination at birth’

Between five and eight per cent of the total population is infected by the disease

PESHAWAR: Concern over the rising number of hepatitis cases in the province has led the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) health department to come up with a ‘vaccination at birth’ plan, which it hopes to launch in the near future. According to available data, between five and eight per cent of the total population of the province is said to have been infected by the disease, and the numbers are still rising. A major cause of the disease is said to be childbirths assisted by untrained attendants, and home births. Officials said that if a mother has the disease, there is a higher chance that the baby will be born infected with hepatitis-B.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2017.