Nigerian Healthcare Workers Know Hepatitis B Vaccines Exist, Yet Many Remain Unvaccinated

A scoping review published in BMC Health Services Research has found that while most Nigerian healthcare workers are aware of hepatitis B vaccines, the proportion who have actually received the vaccine varies dramatically across the country, falling as low as 19.9 percent in one state. The review, reported using the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, pooled evidence from twenty-two peer-reviewed cross-sectional studies involving a total of 5,537 healthcare workers, with studies published between January 2021 and September 2025. The researchers searched five public databases using Medical Subject Headings terms, keywords, truncations and Boolean operators, and applied the Population, Concept, Context framework to define which studies were included.

Data extracted from each paper were then summarised through thematic analysis, a method that groups findings across studies into recurring themes such as awareness, knowledge, acceptance and uptake. Awareness of hepatitis B virus vaccines was reported in nine of the included studies and ranged widely, from 50.7 percent among healthcare workers in Abuja to 100 percent in Kaduna State. This spread indicates that even basic familiarity with the vaccine, which has been licensed for public use since the twentieth century, is not uniform across Nigeria's health workforce.

Uptake, measured as receipt of at least one vaccine dose, was the most frequently reported outcome, appearing in sixteen studies. Yet the figures were strikingly uneven: uptake ranged from 19.9 percent in Anambra State to 80 percent in Sokoto State. The review's authors concluded that although many healthcare workers in Nigeria were aware of effective vaccines for hepatitis B, uptake of these vaccines remained unsatisfactory in some regions.

Because all twenty-two studies used cross-sectional designs, they capture a snapshot of awareness and vaccination status at single points in time rather than tracking changes or establishing why workers remain unvaccinated. The review also exposed a gap in the evidence base itself. Only two studies reported on knowledge of hepatitis B vaccines and only two on acceptance, which the authors describe as insufficient evidence on those themes.

What the evidence does establish is a measurable disconnect: awareness of hepatitis B vaccines among Nigerian healthcare workers is generally high, but completing even a first dose lags far behind in several states, and the national evidence on knowledge and acceptance is too sparse to draw firm conclusions.

Subject of Research: Awareness, knowledge, acceptance and uptake of hepatitis B vaccines among healthcare workers in Nigeria

Article Title: Awareness, knowledge, acceptance, and uptake of hepatitis B vaccines among healthcare workers in Nigeria: a scoping review

Article References: Makinde, I. O., Ehiemere, C. C., Ekhator, E., Egwuda, K., & Akyala, I. A. (2026). Awareness, knowledge, acceptance, and uptake of hepatitis B vaccines among healthcare workers in Nigeria: a scoping review. BMC Health Services Research. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-15426-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12913-026-15426-w

Keywords: hepatitis B, vaccination, healthcare workers, Nigeria, scoping review, vaccine uptake, occupational health, cross-sectional studies, public health, BMC Health Services Research, Awareness, knowledge