Hepatitis B Vaccination and Education in Jiangsu Province, China

Abstract

Hepatitis B is an infectious liver disease caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) that may lead to the development of cirrhosis and liver cancer. HBV has infected a third of the world’s population, and more than 600,000 people worldwide die from complications of HBV infection each year. A third of the world’s chronic HBV carriers reside in China, where hepatitis B is endemic and has been one of the most important public health issues. Since 2005, the Chinese government has provided the hepatitis B vaccine completely free of charge for all children, and the prevalence of HBV has been decreased to less than 1% in children under 5 years of age with the National Immunization Program. However, the hepatitis B vaccination program has hit roadblocks in trying to increase vaccination rates in rural China and raising awareness about the disease. Here, I provided a review of hepatitis B, hepatitis B in China, and hepatitis B vaccination and education issues in China. I examined the causes behind regional disparities in hepatitis B vaccination rates in China through data collection and personal interviews with vaccination workers and parents in various community vaccination and prevention centers in the urban city of Nanjing and the rural city of Huai’an in Jiangsu Province. Through data collection, I found that while vaccination rates between the general infant populations of Nanjing and Huai’an were not significantly different, vaccination rates and on-time birth dose vaccination rates are significantly lower for infants in the rural floating population. Through both data collection and interviews with vaccination workers, I found that Nanjing vaccination centers are burdened with more infants to serve and more staff shortages than their rural counterparts, while Huai’an vaccination centers are burdened with more economic difficulties than their urban counterparts. Through the administering of questionnaires to vaccination workers, I found that there is a lack of standard medical and health training for vaccination workers in both Nanjing and Huai’an. Through the administering of questionnaires to parents and guardians, I found a significant lack of hepatitis B education and awareness, especially among parents and guardians in Huai’an. Based on the data I collected and the interviews I conducted, I identified a collection of policies that the Chinese government should implement to increase hepatitis B vaccination rates and increase public awareness about the disease in the future to prevent more people from contracting the disease and to decrease the stigma surrounding hepatitis B patients.