Moving towards hepatitis B elimination in Gulf Health Council states: From commitment to action

In 2016, the World Health Assembly adopted the hepatitis B (HB) elimination strategy that aims at ending HB by 2030. In this descriptive review we provide the progress made and challenges to achieving hepatitis B elimination by 2030 in Gulf Health Cooperated (GHC) states.

Data record from relevant online databases and reliable resources were reviewed until the end of 2017. The analysis was based on the core indicators of the WHO monitoring and evaluation framework for viral hepatitis B and the targets of the global health sector strategy by 2016‒2021.

The states introduced HB vaccination, including birth-dose for those under 5 years old, with global coverage of more than 95%, in order to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HBV. The prevalence of HB antigens declined in children under age 5 to less than 1%. However, the rate of vaccination among the most-at-risk populations remains suboptimal. All states have implemented safe blood transfusions and injection safety policies as well as universal laboratory-based surveillance for acute HB. However, surveillance for chronic HB and sequelae as well as estimation methods of morbidity and mortality to evaluate impact are not established. Similarly, harm reduction for people who inject drugs and testing and treatment policies and protocols for people with chronic HB are suboptimal.

Additional steps are required to strengthen immunisation among the most-at-risk populations, maintain high quality surveillance, use antiviral therapy to treat chronic HBV and stop unsafe injection practices for drug users. Establishing country-specific national hepatitis responses based on country priorities as well as the capacity of the home health sectors to address these needs are paramount. Achieving elimination targets will require a radical alteration in the current hepatitis response and this goal should be elevated to a higher priority in the public health arena.