Vaccination against hepatitis B – which passes in a few months without treatment for most people but can cause serious liver problems for others – is not only important but also safe and effective because it carries no side-effects. And since the efficacy rate of the vaccine is good, it offers the best protection.
Given the hysteria and fears whipped about inoculation in the wake of a fake vaccination campaign carried out by the US to capture Osama bin Laden, it would be more than useful to conduct awareness sessions about the causes of the viral infection and importance of vaccination.
School children and other high-risk groups should be prioritised for inoculation. Vaccination, according to the head of the provincial hepatitis control programme, will focus around stable segments of population and students exemplify this category. Infants born in public hospitals tend to get their first dose of vaccines almost immediately after birth.
These vaccinations have started to bear fruit and the number of infections is down from what it was before the 2014 military operations against militant groups.
Some 97,000 newborn babies were inoculated in hospital labour rooms in 2017 and 80,000 in 2016. Four per cent of Pakistani children below the age of 12 are infected with hepatitis B, according to the Pakistan Medical and Research Council.
One of the stiffest challenges has been to continue the programme with the same vigour and will. More power to the jabs.
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