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Hepatitis B vaccination of adolescents: A report on the national program in Iran

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Abstract

Since 2007, Iran's Ministry of Health carried out a nationwide hepatitis-B vaccination campaign for 17-year-old adolescents in four stages. We report the outcomes of the second and third stages targeting adolescents born during 1990 and 1991. The National Committee for Hepatitis selected a passive approach – media education – for mass vaccination. (A community mobilization strategy, for example, would be termed active.) The target populations in 2008 and 2009 included 1 709 337 and 1 673 571 adolescents. In each year, Iran organized three rounds of vaccination throughout the country. At the end of each round, data were collected and sent to Ministry of Health for analysis. The overall coverage rate was 74.9 per cent for one dose of vaccination, and 62.76 per cent for all three doses in 2008; 75.7 per cent and 55.6 per cent, respectively in 2009. Coverage rates in rural areas were significantly higher (P<0.001). The media education approach achieved acceptable outcomes in current campaign. Constant performance monitoring, and perhaps a new catch-up vaccination campaign are warranted to expand coverage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Baqiyatallah Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Disease, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Seyed Moayed Alavian & Alireza Tehrani

  2. Health Policy Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Nima Zamiri, Seyyed Taghi Heydari & Kamran B Lankarani

  3. Center for Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Medical Education of I.R. Iran, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Mehdi Gooya

Authors
  1. Seyed Moayed Alavian
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  2. Nima Zamiri
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  3. Mohammad Mehdi Gooya
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  4. Alireza Tehrani
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  5. Seyyed Taghi Heydari
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  6. Kamran B Lankarani
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Additional information

As Iran's nationwide hepatitis B vaccination program advanced, circumstances changed and the program required adjustments by region and target population to complete immunization of the population. The authors describe these efforts.

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Alavian, S., Zamiri, N., Gooya, M. et al. Hepatitis B vaccination of adolescents: A report on the national program in Iran. J Public Health Pol 31, 478–493 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2010.35

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