Hepatitis B Screening Rolled Out at All Maternal Clinics

COLOMBO (News 1st): Sri Lanka has taken a step forward in maternal and child healthcare by launching Hepatitis B testing for pregnant mothers across all maternity clinics in the country.

Health authorities confirmed that the programme was officially introduced yesterday as part of efforts to further strengthen the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of infectious diseases.

The Ministry of Health noted that Sri Lanka has already been conducting blood screening programmes for pregnant mothers for several years to prevent the transmission of HIV and Syphilis from mother to child. These initiatives have been widely recognized as highly successful.

As a result of these sustained efforts, Sri Lanka was declared by the World Health Organization in 2019 as a country that has successfully eliminated the mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis.

Building on that achievement, the introduction of Hepatitis B screening marks the next phase of the country’s maternal health programme.