Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major global health problem , especially in Asia, Africa, southern Europe and Latin America. About 2 billion people are infected with HBV worldwide, and 400 million among them are suffering from chronic HBV infection. Pakistan is highly endemic with HBV with nine million people infected with HBV and its infection rate is on a steady rise. The reason may be the lack of proper health facilities, poor economical status and less public awareness about the transmission of major communicable diseases including HBV, HCV and HIV.
  The clinical course and sequel of chronic hepatitis vary among individuals. Infection with HBV leads to a wide spectrum of clinical presentations, ranging from asymptomatic carrier state to acute self-limiting infection or fulminant hepatic failure, chronic hepatitis with progression to cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Studies are too limited to give a clear picture of the prevalence of HBV at the National level, especially among otherwise healthy individuals. Most previous studies targeted different small groups of individuals with some clinical indications therefore; these do not accurately reflect the overall prevalence in Pakistan. The present article briefly presents the prevalence, risk factors associated with HBV transmission, awareness status and HBV genotypes prevalent in Pakistani population. 

Risk factors associated with HBV infection

History of dialysis for more than 2 years is a risk factor for dialysis patients. Major risk factors for mother to infant transmission include increasing maternal age, number of pregnancies, repeated injections and addiction major risk factors in surgical patients include re-use of contaminated syringes, contaminated surgical instruments and blood products risk factors in pregnant women (antenatal) include ear and nose prick, history of jaundice among them or with their partner, history of blood transfusions, history of injections