State of implementation of priority interventions towards eliminating hepatitis B and C epidemics in Ghana: a scoping review protocol

Globally, the public health threat from hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) persists as viral hepatitis is the second leading cause of infectious disease deaths, with Africa accounting for 25% of HBV deaths. Although diagnostic tools and highly effective treatments are available, only a few with HBV and HCV are diagnosed or treated, and hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination remains low in Africa. To meet SDG 3.3's goal of eliminating viral hepatitis by 2030, the World Health Organization has developed a strategy that highlights priority actions countries should adopt to implement core interventions and achieve elimination by 2030. Ghana has been selected as one of Africa's 10 WHO focus countries for viral hepatitis response due to peculiar challenges identified in the country’s epidemiological and programmatic landscape. However, the country's efforts towards eliminating the two diseases as public health threats have not been fully assessed. The objective of this scoping review is to map and summarize evidence on the implementation of core interventions outlined in the Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis (2022-2030) for eliminating viral hepatitis B and C epidemics in Ghana. The review focuses on core interventions and priority actions for viral hepatitis outlined under “Strategic direction 1: deliver high-quality, evidence-based, people-centred services”. This scoping review will examine the state of implementation of interventions in the country since 2015, as this year marks the baseline for implementation, as indicated in the strategy. This scoping review will be conducted using the Arksey and O’Malley framework as updated by Levac et al. (2010). The review focuses on interventions for the prevention, testing, and treatment of hepatitis B and C in Ghana, which are being implemented at various levels of the health system, ranging from the national level to community and healthcare facilities. A three-step search strategy will be applied in this review to identify published and grey literature for screening. This will involve searching electronic databases, the reference lists of selected publications retrieved through database searches, and searching for grey literature using key terms from the search strategy. Screening and data extraction will be conducted using Covidence. A basic qualitative content analysis, conducted using a deductive process, will be employed to identify key themes related to the interventions and strategies for their implementation. The scoping review will generate a comprehensive evidence map that describes the current state of implementation of interventions for the prevention, testing, and treatment of hepatitis B and C in Ghana. The identified gaps will inform targeted efforts from the control program and other implementing parties aimed at eliminating the public health threat posed by the two diseases.