Jakarta (ANTARA) - In Indonesia, Hepatitis B is mostly being transmitted from mother to child, according to an official from the Health Ministry."This condition allows chronic Hepatitis B to occur," director of prevention and control of infectious diseases at the ministry, Imran Pambudi, said during the 14th World Hepatitis Day agenda in Jakarta on Friday.
Pambudi informed that Hepatitis B transmission from infected mothers to children is one of the main reasons for the high prevalence of Hepatitis B in Indonesia. According to him, based on the 2013 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas), Hepatitis B (HBsAg) prevalence, in general, was recorded at 7.1 percent, or equivalent to around 18 million Indonesians.
He said that babies infected with the Hepatitis B virus have a more than 90 percent to 95 percent risk of developing chronic Hepatitis B. While those who are infected after the age of 5 years rarely experience chronic infection.
Vertical transmission or transmission from parent to child contributes around 50 percent of the burden of Hepatitis B globally, he pointed out. Pambudi urged pregnant women to immediately take a hepatitis test at a health facility to prevent transmission to their children. He said that the government has also made several efforts to prevent hepatitis transmission among pregnant women, including through hepatitis tests and vaccinations. "We are implementing a clean and healthy lifestyle to prevent hepatitis as well," he added.
He said that the government is also providing Hepatitis B vaccines to pregnant women to increase their immunity and prevent mother-to-child transmission, urging them to notify partners before having children, conducting screening tests for infectious infections through blood transfusions, and applying standard precautions.
"The Ministry of Health has made various efforts to deal with Hepatitis B, including administering the Hepatitis B vaccine dose 1 to newborns aged 0 or less than 24 hours, followed by the next dose of Hepatitis B vaccination in accordance with the national immunization program," Pambudi said.
The Ministry of Health is also conducting Hepatitis B tests for all pregnant women. In 2022, Hepatitis B screening was carried out for pregnant women in 489 districts/cities, with more than 3.2 million pregnant women examined.
According to him, the ministry has also given the antiviral drug Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate to pregnant women diagnosed with Hepatitis B since 2022, and the drug is currently being provided at 180 health facilities in 34 districts/cities in 17 provinces.
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"We are implementing it gradually. Later, we will add more areas covered for antiviral distribution. We hope that in 2029, all districts/cities can provide the antiviral drug to pregnant women," Pambudi said.