Increasing the Awareness of the General Population: An Important Step in Elimination Programs of Viral Hepatitis

Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on prevention and elimination strategies for hepatitis B and hepatitis C

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in significant morbidity and mortality since its first case was discovered in December 2019. Since then, multiple countries have witnessed a healthcare system collapse due to the overwhelming demand for COVID-19 care. Drastic measures have been taken globally in order to curb the spread of the virus. However, those measures have led to the disruption of other aspects of healthcare, increasing the burden due to other medical conditions. We have also stepped back in achieving the ambitious goal set in place by World Health Organization to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public threat by 2030. Hepatitis B and C are chronic conditions with a significant worldwide burden, and COVID-19 has resulted in many hepatitis elimination programs slowing or stopping altogether. In this review, we elucidate the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the interventions targeted towards the elimination of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus. Some of the salient features that we have covered in this review include hindrance to screening and diagnostic tests, neonatal vaccinations, the transmission dynamics affecting hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus, role of limited awareness, restrictions to treatment accessibility, and disparity in healthcare services. We have highlighted the major issues and provided recommendations in order to tackle those challenges.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Regarding HIV, HBV, and HCV Among Medical Students of Syrian Private University, Damascus, Syria

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS are infections that constitute major health concerns impacting national health systems worldwide. This is the first study to determine Syrian medical students' attitudes, awareness and knowledge of HIV/HBV/HCV, regarding general knowledge about, clinical features, transmission, and prevention.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted at Syrian Private University on World AIDs Day (1/12/2019), Damascus, during the Syrian war crisis. Data were collected through self-administered surveys which targeted social demographic information, general knowledge, attitude, towards HBV, HCV, HIV. Data were divided and analysed according to the source of information, study year, marital status, and GPA using one-way analysis of variance to assess the level of knowledge.

RESULTS

Of 317 respondents, the majority (59.8%) were males with age ranging from 18 to 30 years of age. . The majority of students 188(59.3%) showed an average level of knowledge, 73(23%) showed a good level of knowledge. This study revealed adequate knowledge. However there were misconceptions regarding transmission pathways. The majority 173(54.6%) had a positive attitude, and 144(45.4%) had a neutral attitude, while none had a negative attitude towards HIV/HBV/HCV infected individuals. Clinical year students (mean 73.0%, SD ± 10.0%) demonstrated higher levels of awareness compared to pre-clinical students (mean 39.7%, SD ± 13.0%).

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed that medical students have adequate knowledge regarding HIV/HBV/HCV. Medical students play a pivotal role in raising awareness and disseminating knowledge among the community, thus more effort should be concentrated on developing educational programs to limit the risks of such infections.

The Key Role of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) Activities in Viral Hepatitis Elimination Programs

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Knowledge, attitude, and practice of Iranian health sciences students regarding hepatitis B and C virus infections: A national survey

BACKGROUND

The World Health Organization seeks to achieve the goal of viral hepatitis elimination by 2030 and lack of general knowledge about viral hepatitis seems to be a barrier to reaching this goal. This study was designed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among Iranian health sciences students in 12 Iranian medical sciences universities using a national survey.

METHODS

This survey was conducted during the second Hepatitis Awareness Campaign, which was held during the Iranian National Hepatitis Week (October 22-28, 2016). Students who visited our booths and were willing to participate in our survey were selected using convenience sampling and their HBV- and HCV-related KAP were evaluated.

RESULTS

Two thousand one hundred fifty-six health sciences students with mean age of 21.24 years participated in our survey. The mean KAP scores were 7.35 (out of 10), 4.88 (possible score, -20 to +20), and 5.67 (out of 9). Students with experience of accidental exposures to blood (21.6%) had better KAP scores compared with the students without such experiences. The mean KAP scores were associated with subjects' year of education, field of study, university, and province (P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study showed that HBV- and HCV-related KAP in a sample of Iranian health sciences students was not satisfying. The results also demonstrated priority of needing intervention regarding KAP in some subject areas, lower years of education, and some universities compared with others.