China on Tuesday credited its national immunization program which protected about 80 million people from being infected with the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) in the 19 years after 1992, when the virus was first brought into the program.

Wang Bin, deputy director of the disease prevention bureau under the ministry, said inoculations also helped prevent 19 million additional children from becoming carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in the same period. HBsAg is an early indicator of acute hepatitis B.

About 93 million Chinese are HBV carriers, accounting for more than a quarter of the world's total.

Chinese job hunters have long complained of discrimination on the grounds of them having Hepatitis B.

In 2005, the government issued a health standard that included Hepatitis B carriers among eligible candidates for the civil service.

According to the standard, Hepatitis B carriers are eligible to work for the government so long as the infection does not progress to the disease stage.