Korea has become the first among the 37 countries in the Western Pacific Region to receive certification as an indication of a country's efforts in controlling hepatitis B from the World Health Organization. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention delivered the news on Monday.

"We received the certification in recognition for having maintained a low infection rate of the hepatitis B virus in children aged between four and six of 0.2 percent in 2007. The WHO standard is 1 percent," the KCDC said. "This means that Korea has achieved a level on par with advanced countries."

Korea has an overall 4.6 percent hepatitis B infection rate, higher than Japan's 1 percent, but lower than China's 10 percent. The Western Pacific Regional Office of WHO has recommended that its member countries introduce a system of regular vaccinations against hepatitis B since 2002. In order to measure the effectiveness of the system, the WPRO has been carrying out a study on the infection rate of children around five years old.

(englishnews@chosun.com )