Immunization

Polio eradication in Pakistan

© HQ01-0626\Shehzad Noorani

A health worker gives a dose of oral polio vaccine to a baby held by his sister.

Although communication activities take place at all levels of the programme, the main focus of communication and social mobilization activities in Pakistan is on ensuring the development of locally appropriate activities to address specific challenges. In Pakistan, these challenges include getting into hard to access areas, reaching the highly mobile populations, addressing individual concerns, and reaching young infants in a conservative culture.

In 2008, social maps and matrixes were created to help identify and administer the immunization of high risk populations. Communication officers were hired and deployed in these districts to support the development of appropriate strategies that include activities to address refusals, highly mobile populations, and accessibility in security compromised areas.

The Highway Motorway Police have been engaged to ensure the immunization of children traveling on the national highways. The police provide support to the immunization teams at 57 tollway plazas throughout the country. An immunization station set up at a Toll Plaza in Karachi District has simplified access to the station. 5,530 children were immunized at the innovative station over the course of a few days in May 2008.

• Summary of 2007 KAP survey

© UNICEF/2009

Data compiled from the June 2007 IPD to the September 2007 IPD

Local political and religious leaders have been engaged to help bolster support and demonstrate the importance and acceptance of immunization. Results were evident as attendance at inaugurations increased with a corresponding increase in the levels of polio awareness.

© UNICEF/2009

Data from UNICEF media analysis, 2008

Training for communication officers, doctors and medical professionals has also increased this year, resulting in fewer missed children due to the lack of immunization teams. Renewed cooperation with media should help increase knowledge as overwhelmingly respondents say that they receive information about polio from radio or television.

Service delivery to the Aga Kahn community has improved as well. A lack of access in the past has made it difficult to cover the community. In June 2008, the community accepted a door-to-door campaign carried out by 150 local vaccinators.  Independent monitoring following the campaign showed 92% coverage in Gulbergand Jamshed.

A late 2007 knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) study (see link above) showed that as the result of ongoing communications efforts there is a high level of awareness in most of the country.  99% of those surveyed started they had heard of the polio disease while 96% stated they have heard of the vaccine and 95% considered polio as a priority health issue.

In 2007, based on feedback from focus group research in which community members said that more personalized communication about the tragic effect of polio would motivate people to seek immunization, the Polio True Stories website were launched in 2007. The stories portray the real lives of polio victims, and reports from the field suggest that these stories have motivated teams to improve performance and convince community members to accept polio immunization.

Return to Communication Support for Polio Eradication page.