Tackling Vaccine Hesitancy

The Hindu     21st April 2021     Save    

Context: Understanding and analysing the steps necessary to tackle vaccine hesitancy.

Understanding vaccine hesitancy

  • Definition: According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is a reluctance or refusal to be vaccinated, regarded as one of the top threats to global health.
  • Past occurrences:
    • Observed in Britain around vaccination against whooping cough in the 1970s and 1980s and against measles in 1990.
    • Hesitancy around HPV vaccine in Japan and tetanus toxoid in Kenya recorded.
    • In India, there was hesitancy during the polio vaccination campaign.
  • Contemporary challenges: In this age of surplus information (digital age), outbreaks of misinformation, spread through social and digital media channels, have the potential to significantly impact public health.
    • India is particularly vulnerable to this challenge because we are increasingly moving towards consumption of news and information online and through social channels.
    • This kind of misinformation, when directed towards public health programmes such as immunisation, can adversely impact public trust, especially through an ‘echo chamber’ effect.

Way forward

  • Understanding benefits of vaccines: Vaccines are an important public health tool to mitigate the impact of infectious diseases.
    • Some vaccines prevent infections from gaining a foothold in our body; others like Covid-19 vaccines (disease-modifying vaccines) reduce the severity of illnesses.
  • Building public trust through clear and transparent communication: Need to equip ourselves as well as healthcare professionals and frontline workers with the information needed to counter misinformation.
    • Counter misinformation and rumours: Seeding positive messages proactively in community and on social platforms demonstrating positive behaviour change.
    • Address community’s concerns with empathy.