Progress in the prevention of vertical transmission of viral hepatitis B in the EU/EEA

Surveillance and monitoring

Transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) from a mother to a child (also referred to as vertical transmission), is low in European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries, with few cases attributed to this route among acute notifications. In all of the countries with data available on HBV vertical transmission, the rate was below 2%. aged ≤5 years are limited, but estimates from the four countries providing data were all under 0.1%.

  • All EU/EEA countries implement universal antenatal screening for HBsAg in pregnant women and most countries reporting data had met the 2025 World Health Organization (WHO) interim target of 90% coverage. However, data are not available for all countries, limiting the ability to assess progress comprehensively across the European region.
  • Data on treatment coverage among eligible HBsAg-positive pregnant women were only available from four countries, but coverage was high, ranging from 75% to 100%. Treatment eligibility criteria are in place in all of the reporting countries and included in national guidelines for 25 countries.
  • The hepatitis B vaccine is an effective, safe and inexpensive tool for preventing hepatitis B infection which has significantly reduced the incidence of HBV across the region. A universal childhood vaccination programme is in place in 27 EU/EEA countries, yet only nine have reached the WHO target of 95% HBV vaccination coverage. Efforts to strengthen childhood vaccination coverage are needed to minimise the risk of HBV transmission, particularly in areas where vaccine acceptance is low and in communities with large populations of migrants from high-endemicity countries who may have missed routine vaccination.
  • Five EU/EEA countries (Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Romania) have introduced HBV birth dose vaccination to all infants as part of their national immunisation programmes. All other countries only provide HBV birth dose vaccination to infants born to HBsAg-positive pregnant women. Data on coverage with timely (within 24 hours of birth) targeted HBV birth dose vaccination from 10 countries indicate that nine of them had reached the 2025 interim target of 90% coverage with timely HBV birth dose vaccination.
  • The limited availability and completeness of data across EU/EEA countries may mean that the vertical-transmission burden is under-estimated and could also result in a failure to identify gaps in intervention coverage which may limit the effectiveness of timely programmatic responses. This highlights the need for improved and harmonised systems to monitor screening practices and outcomes.
Publication file

Progress in the prevention of vertical transmission of viral hepatitis B in the EU/EEA

English (962.53 KB - PDF)

Share this page