Partners
Partners are an integral part of the efforts to control hepatitis B in the Region. The Governments of Australia and New Zealand provided financial support and WHO and UNICEF provided technical support for the introduction of hepatitis B vaccine in 13 Pacific island countries and areas in the mid-1990s through the “Control of Hepatitis B Infection in Pacific Island Countries Project”. This project provided a model of sustainable donor support that has had an impact.
In 2002, the GAVI Alliance began supporting vaccine introduction or expansion of its use in seven countries in the Region. Other key partners include the Burnet Institute of Australia, the Governments of Japan and Luxembourg, PATH, the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, UNICEF, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the ZeShan Foundation in China, Hong Kong (China). In addition, the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia, was established as the Western Pacific Region’s Regional Reference Laboratory for hepatitis B in 2010.