A vaccination shot for our future

Name of the activity: A vaccination shot for our future

Country/NMO: Ecuador (AEMPPI-Ecuador)

Program: Teaching Medical Skills

Contact information: [email protected] +593 979318501

Type of the activity: Campaign. Combination of education and advocacy. Campaigns create awareness in society about a certain topic (education aspect) and try to funnel this awareness into pressure on the decision makers to adapt policies accordingly (advocacy aspect).

General description:

A vaccination shot for our future is an activity designed to educate medical students and the general public about the importance of vaccines and to clarify the myths that surround it. The last years have been characterized by the emergence and strengthening of anti-vaccination groups, which has resulted in the re emergence of diseases that had alreay been erradicated. It will be held during the Vaccination Week in the Americas and the World Immunization Week; several American NMOs will replicate the activity at the same time. It has three phases. A symposyum in which we will educate medical students, a health fair during which we will teach adults and kids about the importance of vaccination, the country’s schemes and myths. We will collect information about the most common myths and publish them. The third phase is a media campaign in which American and European NMOs will colaborate through a video; also, we will work with local tv and radio stations as well as newspapers.

Focus area:

Doctor-Patient communication skills

Problem statement:

Immunization is one of the most effective preventive health measures. Vaccines avoid 2 to 3 million deaths each year, but they could prevent 1.5 million more. According to the WHO, global vaccination coverage remains at 85%. Lately, the anti-vax movement has grown and many people decided not to vaccinate; this problem is so big that the WHO has included it among this year’s top 10 global health threats.

Target groups:

General population, Medical students, Children

Beneficiaries:

General population, Medical students, Other Students, Other health professionals, Children

Objectives and indicators of success:

Train 200 medical students about the importance of vaccination, how to correctly complete vaccination schemes and most common vaccination myths with a symposium and a communication skills workshop, given by proffesionals on these topics, during April 2019, and through a health fair and social media campaign educate the general population.

Quiz before and after the symposium, this will be done through Google Forms

Registry of the number of adults and children who participate in the health fair. Participants will be asked to leave a message about the importance of vaccines.

-Obtain data about the myths that prevail in our country regarding vaccination through a survey applied to at least 100 people, which will be carried out during a health fair in April 2019 based in OMS survey.

Poll about myths surrounding vaccination, done during the health fair.

-Educate at least 1000 people about myths surrounding vaccination through a media campaign during april 2019.

Analyze social media publications’ reach in Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Methodology:

A vaccination shot for our future will be held during the Vaccination Week in the Americas and the World Immunization Week.

–>First Phase: Symposium in which we will talk about:

-What are vaccines?

-History of vaccines, immunization and anti vax movement

-Vaccination scheme and how to approach parents.

-Epidemiological surveillance

-Adverse effects workshop: approach and notification. How to achieve an assertive communication with the patient.

–>Second phase: Health fair. The population will be educated about the importance of vaccination and schemes for each age group. In addition we will make a survey about vaccination myths. This data will be published to create awareness about our country’s reality. During the health fair we will have two stations, one aimed at adults and one aimed at children.

–>Third phase: Social media campaign, through social networks, tv, radio and newspapers. We will work with NPOs and NOMEs, developing a video about vaccination importance.

Plans for evaluation:

Quiz before and after the symposium, with an improvement of 75% in their knowledge about the topic , at least in 50% of participants. This will be done through Google Forms. We expect 200 students to complete it and and will be a requirement to receive their certificate.

-Registry of the number of adults and children who participate in the health fair. Participants will be asked to leave a message about the importance of vaccines. We expect at least 100 people to do this.

-Poll about myths surrounding vaccination, done during the health fair. We expect at least 100 people to answer.

-Analyze social media publications’ reach in Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We expect our publication to reach at least 1000 people, and we will look for a quantitative and qualitative value of the project through a research protocol, tabulating the results of the survey in Google Forms and comparing it with the Evaluation of the National Immunization Strategy.