Prevalence of Hepatitis B Among Migrants Living in High-Income Countries With Low/Intermediate HBV Prevalence-A...

The World Health Organisation targeted the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) for elimination as a public health threat by 2030. To achieve this goal, equitable access to HBV testing and treatment services is critical. Migrants usually experience multiple barriers to accessing HBV services. Understanding HBV prevalence among this population can support planning for HBV elimination. This systematic review aimed to estimate HBV prevalence among migrants in high-income countries with low/intermediate HBV prevalence. PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library were searched for peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2025 in English. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Tools were used for methodological quality assessment. A proportional meta-analysis was used to estimate HBV prevalence. We also estimated the prevalence of HBV surface antibody (anti-HBs) positive from the included studies. Forty-four studies were included in this review. The pooled HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-HBs prevalence were 4.4% (95% CI: 3.4%-5.5%) and 35.2% (95% CI: 26.9%-44.0%), respectively. HBsAg prevalence was higher in males (5.8%) than in females (2.4%). Migrants aged 18 years and over had higher HBsAg prevalence than those aged less than 18 years (3.5% vs. 2.1%). Among refugees and asylum seekers, HBsAg and anti-HBs prevalence were 4.2% and 31.2%, respectively. The HBV prevalence among migrants was comparable to the global level, but higher than that in the general population of countries included in this study. To improve equity in HBV elimination strategies, migrants, especially refugees and asylum seekers' access to HBV information, testing, and treatment should be facilitated.