Hepatitis B Testing and Vaccination

The hepatitis B virus is common in Vietnam, including among factory workers. The virus is commonly transmitted from pregnant mothers to babies before birth, making factories - which primarily employ women in Vietnam - a strategic point for intervention.

Workers at this J. Crew factory voted to spend Fair Trade Community Development Funds to offer hepatitis B testing and vaccination for factory workers, at a cost of less than $100 per participant, breaking the chain of transmission and relieving the burden of this potentially serious liver infection. 656 beneficiaries were treated through this ongoing and in progress prevention and intervention project. The project detailed that each worker would be offered HbsAg quantification (sample for hepatitis B testing) - Anti Hbs quantification (Antibody) for positive cases and Hepatitis B vaccination (Gene – Hbvax 1ml Vietnam) cases with negative results.