Be Wise, Immunize! – LeMSIC Lebanon

Name of the activity: Be Wise, Immunize!

Country/NMO: LeMSIC Lebanon

Program: Communicable Diseases

Contact information: contact [email protected] to get in touch with the Activity Coordinator

Type of the activity: First-time Activity

Category: Campaign

Focus area: Work to increase rate of Vaccination, Early childhood vaccines and preventable diseases

Sustainable Development Goals addressed: SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities)

Problem statement:

Lebanon is still far from reaching the worldwide-recommended rates (still below the 95% target set by WHO). Also, the economic crisis made it difficult for people to be up to date with their medical obligations. With the emergence of the pandemic, the number of fully vaccinated people is still too low only 36.7% of the population. This is why LeMSIC has decided to raise awareness about this topic and increase the number of vaccinated people. 

Target groups:

• General population
• Children
• Migrants

Beneficiaries:

• General population
• Medical students
• Doctors
• Other health professionals
• Children
• Youth
• Migrants
• Refugees
• Elderly people

Objectives:

To increase the rates of vaccination against preventable diseases by 20% by the end of 2022:

– To hold at least 1 session and 1 trivia night for at least 75 medical students in at least 3 medical schools in Lebanon in order to equip them with the knowledge needed to raise awareness on immunization and vaccination in collaboration with at least 2 externals by the end of March 2022

– To educate at least 200 individuals, including children, in Lebanon on vaccination by the end of March 2022 through awareness booths, posters and coloring books.

– To participate in the immunization of the community against COVID-19 by having at least 200 medical students volunteer in at least 3 vaccination marathons organized by the ministry of public health and help in at least 6 vaccination centers on a weekly basis.

Indicators of Success:

1.1 To have at least 50 members take part in the session and trivia night 

1.2 To have at least 1 external hold a session 

2.1 To establish an awareness booth in each of the campuses of the 3 medical schools

2.2 To have at least 100 people attend to the awareness booths

2.3 To have posters put up in at least 5 locations (pharmacies, hospitals…)

2.4 To distribute coloring books to at least 30 children

3.1 To have at least 100 medical students participate in at least 3 vaccination marathons organized by the ministry of public health across Lebanon.

3.2 To have at least 50 medical students volunteer in at least 6 COVID-19 vaccination centers across Lebanon on a weekly basis by the end of the term.

Methodology:

-Form an OC for the  campaign including logistics, content, design, contact and evaluation teams.

-Conduct a stakeholder mapping. 

-Prepare posters to promote the session and trivia night.

-Organize at least 2 informative booths in universities to raise awareness on the topic.

-Prepare booth games and materials.

-Distribute posters about essential, non Covid-19 vaccines (ex: BCG vaccine) and their importance in different hospitals, pharmacies and clinics.

-Post interactive Instagram stories about vaccines.

-Design and distribute interactive coloring books about vaccines to children in schools.

-Organize a trivia night competition.

-Send a volunteering form on the server that allocates shifts in different vaccination centers.

Plans for evaluation:

Evaluation was done through qualitative and quantitative evaluation tools: 

-Pre-evaluation and post-evaluation forms will be sent to assess the knowledge of medical students around vaccines and vaccination. A feedback form will also be sent to assess the quality of the session. 

-A feedback form as QR code will be printed during the campaign (booths) on campuses where people would come, scan and fill it.

-An evaluation report comparing and analyzing pre and post-evaluation as well as feedback will be prepared in coordination with the VPCB.

-Evaluation will be done through qualitative and quantitative evaluation tools.

-A social media report to check for the instagram stories reach will be prepared.

External collaborations:

Collaborating with the Ministry of Public Health to help send volunteers to different COVID-19 vaccination centers across Lebanon on a weekly basis and during vaccination marathons.

A potential external (doctor or NGO) will be contacted to deliver the session about vaccines and immunization.

We also collaborated with the International Organization for Migrants (IOM) for 2 vaccination marathons to vaccinate migrant workers.