WHO applauds China for hepatitis B reduction among young children

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2014-05-07

The World Health Organisation has recognized China’s significant public health achievements in reducing the prevalence of hepatitis B among young children. WHO Western Pacific Regional Director Dr Shin Young-soo presented an award to Minister Li Bin and the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) on Feb 24 to mark China’s achievement. Sun Zhigang, vice-minister of the commission, also participated in the awards ceremony.

Minister Li said that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the work of preventing and controlling hepatitis B in the country. By taking preventive measures, the prevalence of hepatitis can be effectively reduced. However, China is a country with a large population, and much remains to be done in the fight against hepatitis B. China is willing to continue the cooperation with the World Health Organisation and other international organizations to further exchanges in fighting hepatitis B in order to improve the health of the people in China and make contributions to public health improvement in the Western Pacific and the rest of the world. According to Dr Shin, the hepatitis B vaccine program in China has been highly successful, responsible for reducing the prevalence of chronic hepatitis B infections to less than 1 percent among children less than 5 years old, down from over 9 percent in 1992 when the vaccine was introduced.