Fact Sheet: EMTCT PLUS Initiative 2011-2021. Essential Intervention for the Prevention of MTCT Early Childhood Transmission of Hepatitis B

Decades of implementation of hepatitis B vaccine to infants in the Americas have impacted the overall prevalence of chronic hepatitis B, remarkably among children. In 2019, WHO estimated the prevalence of HBV infection among children younger than five years old was at 0.1% [<0.1-0.2%]. This indicates that the Region of Americas have achieved the impact target for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B. By 2021 all 51 countries and territories in the Region of Americas have introduced hepatitis B vaccination in their routine infant immunization schedules, while 31 have also adopted the universal birth dose vaccination policy.