Hepatitis B vaccine uptake among women of childbearing age attending primary health care centres in Nigeria

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a Hepadnavirus that infects liver cells and causes an infectious disease of global significance, leading to a significant health burden.In Africa, studies have revealed low uptake of HBV vaccine and increasing prevalence of HBV infection.None uptake of the vaccine is due to several barriers.These barriers require assessment to address them.The objective of this study was to determine the level of HBV vaccine uptake among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics (ANC) at Primary Health Care (PHC) Centres and to identify the facilitators and barriers to vaccine uptake.This descriptive hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 340 pregnant women between February and March 2024.The respondents were selected using a multistage sampling technique, and intervieweradministered semi-structured questionnaires were used.The respondents' mean age was 25 5.45.Only 23(6.8%) of respondents had received HBV vaccine, with 10 (2.9%) receiving the complete dose.Spousal approval, availability of the vaccine at the hospital and working within the hospital were identified facilitators to uptake of the vaccine.Barriers identified were poor awareness 258 (80.8%), no access to the vaccine 3 (0.9%), positive HBV status 1 (0.3%), unavailability of the vaccine 13 (4.1%),perception that vaccine was not safe 5 (1.6%), high cost of vaccine 7 (2.2%) and lack of health care provider recommendation 32 (10.1%).In conclusion, there is a need to prevent barriers and enhance facilitators to vaccine uptake.More efforts must be put towards increased awareness and improved vaccination, among other measures.These will help to strengthen measures to combat HBV infection.