| dc.description.abstract | Hepatitis B infection is a serious but preventable blood-borne disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). It is the leading cause of liver cancer and cirrhosis. The risk of acquiring hepatitis B virus due to a needle-stick injury or an unsafe injection range from 6% to 30%. The potential for transmission of hepatitis B between clients and healthcare workers (HCWs) is a major public health concern. Tanzania’s Ministry of Health reported that in 2017 about 10% only of its physicians knew the correct management of chronic viral hepatitis including HBV. Whereas the national Health guideline requires all HCWs to attain complete HBV immunization, it is not mandatory, and uptake is erratic. The prevalence of vaccine uptake data by healthcare workers as well as their factors associated with vaccine uptake is sporadic. The broad objective of this study was to explore prevalence of HB vaccine and factors associated with vaccine uptake among HCWs in Mtwara Municipality Health Centers, Tanzania. Specifically, it determines Hepatitis B vaccine prevalence; awareness of Hepatitis B on transmission and prevention; identified HCW perception towards uptake and; determine access factors associated with uptake of HB vaccine among HCW’s. Descriptive cross-sectional design was used, and data collected from (N=149) HCWs through self-administered questionnaire. The prevalence of HBV vaccine uptake was 53.7% which is higher than most of the studies in the country. In addition, vaccination was higher among the clinical cadres relative to non-clinical ones(60.5% versus 26.7%; P<0.001). Significantly more participants trained at Diploma level and above had taken the vaccine (58.9%; P<0.001); Vaccine uptake was comparable between female and male HCWs (P=0.304). Generally, non-clinical HCW had significantly lower awareness with only 36.7% who correctly identified the transmission mode of HBV as well as prevention methods such as use of PEP and vaccines for prevention of HBV. Access, availability of vaccine and high cost of vaccine for HCW were mentioned as barriers to uptake, perception factors such as perceived risk of working in high-risk environment (80.6%) attributed toward completion of HBV vaccine doses. With only about half of healthcare workers having been vaccinated coupled with low awareness of HBV prevention and barriers towards access factors of the vaccine, the group remain considerably susceptible to HBV infection and likely to be infective to patients. There is urgent need to augment personal protection, uptake of prevention behaviors and promote access and use of Hepatitis B vaccine. Understanding further the health prevention behaviors among these healthcare workers is critical for planning health promotion interventions. | en_US |
