A new approach to prevent, diagnose, and treat hepatitis B in Africa.
Spearman CW., Andersson MI., Bright B., Davwar PM., Desalegn H., Guingane AN., Johannessen A., Kabagambe K., Lemoine M., Matthews PC., Ndow G., Riches N., Shimakawa Y., Sombié R., Stockdale AJ., Taljaard JJ., Vinikoor MJ., Wandeler G., Okeke E., Sonderup M., Hepatitis B in Africa Collaborative Network (HEPSANET) None.
There are 82 million people living with hepatitis B (PLWHB) in the World Health Organization Africa region, where it is the main cause of liver disease. Effective vaccines have been available for over 40 years, yet there are 990,000 new infections annually, due to limited implementation of hepatitis B birth dose vaccination and antenatal tenofovir prophylaxis for highly viraemic women, which could eliminate mother-to-child transmission. Despite effective and cheap antiviral treatment which can suppress hepatitis B virus replication and reduce the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC),