Effective communication by health care workers to promote HPV vaccination: Lessons learned from Kenya, India, and Nigeria

Abstract

Health care workers play an essential role in maintaining the public trust in vaccination programmes globally, and more specifically, in low- and middle-income countries. This role is particularly important in building trust in the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. While there are many factors that affect HPV vaccine acceptance, health care workers are one of the most critical influences in the decision-making process among parents as well as adolescent girls. In this paper, we sought to better understand how health care workers in a diverse set of countries communicate and promote HPV vaccines. We summarize communication approaches and lessons learned by health care workers in Kenya, India, and Nigeria through a case study approach. In Kenya, the utilization of a multisectoral approach proved to be very important. In India, intense social mobilization with targeted messaging by target audience laid the groundwork for community acceptance. An evolving communication strategy was essential in Nigeria, where there is no national HPV vaccination programme. Given the increase in vaccine hesitancy globally, the lessons learned through these three country examples highlight the importance of communication efforts in increasing vaccine acceptance.

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