Perspectives on Hepatitis B Vaccination among Health Care Workers in Nigeria

Nigeria has been declared among the group of countries endemic for hepatitis B infection with about 20 million people infected with HBV and about five million deaths resulting from the consequences of hepatitis B infection. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious global health problem, with 2 billion people infected worldwide, and 350 million suffering from chronic HBV infection. It is a major occupational hazard for Health care worker (HCWs). Approximately one health care worker dies each day from hepatitis B. Thus, Hepatitis B infection remains a major occupational hazard among health care workers in Nigeria. HBV being a vaccine preventable virus, about three-quarters of health workers in developed nations are vaccinated against HBV unlike the critically low percentage obtainable in developing countries. Despite the understanding of HCWs in Nigeria of their high risk of exposure to this deadly but vaccine preventable-virus, there is Poor compliance of Health workers to hepatitis B vaccination which calls for serious attention and thus, the heart of this review.