TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence of Hepatitis C viral infection in Ghana: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol
AU - Fosu, Peter Kwabena
AU - Hoor, Gill ten
AU - Adjei, Charles Ampong
AU - Atibila, Fidelis
AU - Ruiter, Robert A. C.
N1 - © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
PY - 2025/4
Y1 - 2025/4
N2 - Background Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains a major public health concern for many countries. A recent survey report in Ghana revealed a national HCV prevalence rate of 4.6% in a population of 35 million but with notably higher regional variations ranging from 8.6 to 14.4%. Considering that Ghana is targeting micro-elimination of HCV as part of the STOP Hepatitis C project, it is prudent to estimate the current epidemiological burden of hepatitis C for evidence-based policymaking, public health research, and program direction. An initial search of the literature showed a previous review that spanned from 1995 to 2015. The gap of almost 10 years may not reflect the current burden of hepatitis C in Ghana, hence this review. A systematic literature search will be performed in the major electronic databases and search engines including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and African Journals Online (AJOL). There will be a search for articles reporting on the prevalence of hepatitis C in Ghana from 2016 to 2024 in these databases. The protocol is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024592505).
AB - Background Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains a major public health concern for many countries. A recent survey report in Ghana revealed a national HCV prevalence rate of 4.6% in a population of 35 million but with notably higher regional variations ranging from 8.6 to 14.4%. Considering that Ghana is targeting micro-elimination of HCV as part of the STOP Hepatitis C project, it is prudent to estimate the current epidemiological burden of hepatitis C for evidence-based policymaking, public health research, and program direction. An initial search of the literature showed a previous review that spanned from 1995 to 2015. The gap of almost 10 years may not reflect the current burden of hepatitis C in Ghana, hence this review. A systematic literature search will be performed in the major electronic databases and search engines including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and African Journals Online (AJOL). There will be a search for articles reporting on the prevalence of hepatitis C in Ghana from 2016 to 2024 in these databases. The protocol is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024592505).
KW - Ghana/epidemiology
KW - Hepacivirus
KW - Hepatitis C/epidemiology
KW - Humans
KW - Meta-Analysis as Topic
KW - Prevalence
KW - Systematic Reviews as Topic
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105003079930&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0321483
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0321483
M3 - Article
C2 - 40238759
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 20
SP - 1
EP - 7
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 4 April
M1 - e0321483
ER -