Workers risking Hepatitis B must take vaccine

Employers will have to guarantee that workers at a high risk of contracting Hepatitis B, such as researchers and doctors, are properly vaccinated, according to a draft national policy.

The draft policy on Hepatitis B at the workplace presented yesterday will create a protective framework for employers and employees at risk of contracting the disease.

Owners of medical laboratories, tattoo clinics and hospitals, for example, would have to carry out a risk assessment of the workplace and provide vaccines for their employees who were at risk, Health Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar said.

Hepatitis B is caused by a virus that infects the liver and can lead to lifelong infection, cirrhosis (liver scarring), liver cancer or failure and, in rare cases, death. It is contracted through direct contact with blood or bodily fluids with an infected person such as by sharing needles, unprotected sex or, if the mother is infected, through childbirth.

Under the policy, employees will be legally and ethically obliged to safeguard their own health and that of their clients and immediately seek professional advice and inform their employers if they get infected. People who fall under the high risk category, such as surgeons and dentists, must take the vaccine and the test. If they are infected with Hepatitis B, they would not be allowed to carry out certain procedures like operations that are of high exposure risk.

A family doctor, who would fall under the intermediate risk category, would also have to take the vaccine and the test but still be allowed to practise if infected.

One third of the world's population was infected with Hepatitis B while in Malta about 10 acute cases were registered every year, Dr Cassar said.

The policy, expected to be in place by mid-next year, will go through a three-month consultation process.

Although 50 per cent of people infected with Hepatitis B do not display any symptoms, these may vary from nausea, vomiting, passing dark urine and jaundice.

Almost 90 per cent of people are cured while 10 per cent never fully recover and remain chronic carriers for the rest of their lives. There is, however, a vaccine which conveys 90 per cent immunity and is highly recommended for those who work in environments where they are exposed to blood.

The draft policy can be downloaded from www.sahha.gov.mt.