China progresses in hepatitis B vaccination, more treatment effort urged

BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- China has won praises from WHO after reaching its goal to control hepatitis B infection among children through immunization ahead of schedule, but more effort is urged for its adult patients.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission announced on Friday that the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen, a key index indicating hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, for Chinese children in the 1-4 and 5-14 age groups both decreased by more than 60 percent from 2006 to 0.32 and 0.94 percent respectively.

This means the country has reached the goal set by the WHO to reduce HBV infection prevalence in children to less than one percent ahead of the deadline of 2017, making the current generation of children the first in the country's history to be almost hepatitis B-free.

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