Brazil moves to certify an end to hepatitis B in newborns

Brazil submitted its dossier for international validation that hepatitis B no longer passes from mothers to babies, after two straight years below the 0.1% infection target among young children. More than 95% of pregnant women now receive prenatal care and over 90% of newborns get the birth-dose vaccine within hours of delivery. The file was presented in Rio on World Hepatitis Day before President Lula and the WHO and PAHO chiefs.