Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) coinfection has been associated with\nhigher morbidity and mortality and may impact significantly on healthcare resource utilization. However, in Ghana,\naccurate estimates of the prevalence of HIV/HBV coinfection needed to inform policy decisions and the design of\npublic health interventions are currently lacking. In this study, our aim was to determine the HIV/HBV coinfection\nprevalence rate in Ghana.\nMethods: Primary studies reporting prevalence of HIV/HBV coinfection in Ghana were retrieved through searches\nconducted in PubMed, science direct, Google scholar and Africa journals online (AJOL) databases. The websites of the\nMinistry of Health and Ghana Health Service were also searched for related reports or reviews. Additionally, the online\nrepository of two leading Ghanaian universities were searched to identify unpublished thesis related to the subject.\nAll online searches were conducted between 01/03/2016 and 12/03/2016. Further searches were conducted through\nreference screening of retrieved papers.\nResults: Twelve (12) studies published between 1999 and 2016 and conducted across seven (7) regions of Ghana\nwere included in this review. The three (3) regions with no studiesââ?¬â?¢ representation were Upper East, Upper West and\nCentral regions. The 12 included studies involved a total of 8162 HIV patients. The reported HIV/HBV coinfection\nprevalence rates ranged from 2.4 to 41.7 %. The pooled HIV/HBV coinfection prevalence rate was determined as\n13.6 % (95 % CI 10.2ââ?¬â??16.8 %; P < 0.001).\nConclusions: In Ghana, about one in seven HIV patients may be also be chronically infected with HBV. Preventive\ninterventions and strategic policy directions including systematic screening of all newly diagnosed HIV cases for\ncoinfection will be needed, so as to improve management strategies for HBV infection and antiretroviral therapy (ART)\nimplementation.
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