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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1463455
This article is part of the Research Topic World Hepatitis Day 2024: Advancing Hepatitis Elimination, Public Health Strategies and Innovations View all articles

Low level of awareness and prevention of hepatitis B among Congolese healthcare workers: urgent need for policy implementation

Provisionally accepted
Tony A. Shindano Tony A. Shindano 1,2,3,4*Yves Horsmans Yves Horsmans 5
  • 1 Université Catholique de Bukavu, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo
  • 2 Hôpital Provincial Général de Référence de Bukavu, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo
  • 3 University of Kindu, Kindu, Maniema, Democratic Republic of Congo
  • 4 Center for Tropical Diseases and Global Health, CTDGH, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo
  • 5 Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Brussels, Belgium

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a country with many public health challenges, including those related to the prevention and management of viral hepatitis B. Healthcare workers, who are at the frontline of patient care, are particularly at risk of contracting and spreading this virus, especially given its high prevalence in the general population. This paper examines the level of awareness and preventive measures among Congolese healthcare workers. Overall, the data show that health workers are under-immunized and lack formal training in hepatitis B prevention and management. In addition to limited awareness, health facilities are insufficiently involved in the implementation of standardized infection control protocols, the provision of personal protective equipment and routine hepatitis B vaccination programmes. There also appears to be a lack of clear and effective national policies outlining the main axes of infection control targets by 2030. This calls for urgent policy implementation focusing on mandatory vaccination, training, resource availability, adherence to infection control practices and comprehensive post-exposure management.

    Keywords: Hepatitis B, policy, prevention, Health workers, DRC

    Received: 11 Jul 2024; Accepted: 23 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Shindano and Horsmans. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Tony A. Shindano, Université Catholique de Bukavu, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.