Renowned Zimbabwean Medical Doctor, Simbarashe Mabaya who is now stationed in Geneva at the Gavi Vaccine Alliance Headquarters, is part of the team that is designing a programme for the delivery of a vaccine to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the Hepatitis B virus in 55 Gavi- eligible countries across the globe.
By Michael Gwarisa
The Hepatitis B Birth dose vaccine programme is a new addition to the portfolio of vaccines support by Gavi. Gavi has been supporting the delivery of the Hepatitis B vaccine primary course excluding the birth dose since 2000. Evidence has shown that giving the vaccine within 24 hours of birth is very effective in reducing mother-to-child transmission of Hepatitis B virus. The Hepatitis B birth dose vaccine programme was approved by the Gavi’s board in 2018 but design was paused due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic halted the roll-out of many essential vaccines, and catch-up campaigns are in place to continue these pre-pandemic efforts.
Posting on his Microblogging Twitter account (Now X), Dr Mabaya expressed joy at the development.
The Hepatitis B Birth Dose vaccine is one of the most effective ways of preventing Chronic liver disease and Hepatocellular carcinoma. I am honored to be part of the Gavi team working to ensure that this vaccine is available to all those who need it across the globe,” said Dr. Mabaya’s tweet.
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is an international partnership created to improve access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries. Their work has been pivotal in preventing many diseases. From 2000–21, they estimate that their programmes averted over 15 million deaths. By supporting hepatitis B birth dose vaccination, they could avert even more. Gavi has a Vaccine Investment Strategy (VIS), in which new or underused vaccines are made available to lower-income countries across the world. This strategy is revised every five years and the last VIS process was completed in 2018.
Under their 2018 vaccine investment strategy, Gavi committed to provide support to countries for the introduction of hepatitis B birth dose from 2021. However, in 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gavi board agreed that the implementation of the new vaccine programmes including the Rabies post exposure prophylaxis vaccine, hepatitis B birth dose, and diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP)-containing booster vaccines would be deferred and reassessed after the acute phase of the pandemic.
The impact of these vaccines rollout can be life-changing often, without support, countries are unable to provide these vaccines to their populations, and Gavi funding has allowed, for instance, the set-up of HPV vaccine programmes aimed at preventing cervical cancer in women and the stockpiling of cholera vaccines for emergencies.
According to data published in the Lancet, each year over a quarter of a million children acquire chronic hepatitis B at birth. Tens of thousands will go on to lose their lives prematurely from liver cancer or other forms of liver disease. These deaths could have been prevented if they had received the hepatitis B birth dose vaccine. Almost a million lives are lost each year to liver cancer and other liver diseases caused by chronic hepatitis B infection.
The news of Gavi unpausing the implementation of the Hepatitis B birth dose programme will be a huge relief in Africa which accounts for about 70% of all Hepatitis B virus infections. Various stakeholders including civil society organisations have been advocating for Gavi to unpause the design of these programmes.
