Updated vaccination and screening recommendations for hepatitis B: Implications for pharmacists

The number of new infections of hepatitis B is rising and a large number of cases are undiagnosed. These factors are contributing to hepatitis B-related liver complications, including liver cancer, and deaths that could be prevented. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated vaccination and screening/testing recommendations for hepatitis B. The updated recommendations remove the need for risk assessment before screening or vaccination. Pharmacists will play a key role in a concerted national effort to implement these updated recommendations. A multistakeholder advisory council convened by the Hepatitis B Foundation identified key barriers to screening and vaccination. The council also formulated strategies to optimize implementation of the updated recommendations. These strategies include educating pharmacists about the new recommendations and how they will help to reduce the burden of hepatitis B and liver cancer. Pharmacists could explore establishing pharmacy-provider collaborative practice agreements and potentially leverage capacity built with COVID-19 vaccine implementation. Hospital systems and other clinic settings could update their electronic health records to include prompts for hepatitis B vaccination and screening. Pharmacy systems can implement different reminder options to help patients complete the hepatitis B vaccine series. To address a lack of vaccine confidence, pharmacists can emphasize the cancer prevention benefit of hepatitis B screening and vaccination and engage with patients on an individual level to understand their concerns, assess vaccine status, and discuss vaccine recommendations. Effective implementation of the new recommendations will help achieve national and global goals of eliminating hepatitis B as a public health threat by 2030.