Working With patient groups in addressing vaccine hesitancy
IT has been a year since the pandemic devastated the entire world and patient groups stand with the global community in its fight against Covid-19. So many things have happened amid the tragic loss of lives as well as the impact on our families, our livelihood, and our health including our emotional and mental well-being.
Now that we have regulators licensing several vaccines, we need to ensure that our patient groups can support the immunization programs in national unity and global solidarity. Through patient engagement and co-creation we can have safe, quality, accessible and patient-centered vaccination programs globally.
Today, in many parts of the world including the Philippines, the Covid-19 vaccination program has been rolled out and while supply issues still persist, vaccine hesitancy is now the next biggest hurdle facing many countries.
The WHO defines vaccine hesitancy as a “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccination services.” In 2019, the WHO identified it as a top threat to global health. It is a continuum ranging from complete acceptance to complete refusal. A Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy in the UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies further defines it as: A behavior, influenced by a number of factors including issues of confidence [do not trust vaccine or provider], complacency [do not perceive a need for a vaccine, do not value the vaccine], and convenience [access].
We need to ensure that our patient groups can support the immunization programs in national unity and global solidarity.
Around the world, FEAR has paralyzed the vaccine landscape and in the Philippines, the Dengue vaccine controversy has damaged the government’s vaccination program. According to data from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (2018) in 2015, there was 93-percent acceptance or agreement on the importance of vaccines. In 2018, vaccine confidence dropped to 32 percent.
Patient organizations now have a critical role to play to counter Covid-19 related infodemic and reduce the vaccine hesitation by become effective advocates and messengers.
What are the ways to increase vaccine confidence?
Establish baseline trust levels
INVEST in running surveys and Focus Group Discussions (Fgds)to establish the Vaccine Confidence level so that issues are surfaced. Once information about the cause of distrust as well as the stakeholders who enjoy a high level of trust, it will be easier to plan the communication and messaging about the vaccination program.
Communicate to build trust
COMMUNICATE with transparency in the planning and implementation of the vaccination program by engaging patient groups and the community. Work with frontline health-care workers, including non-biomedical health providers to address vaccine hesitancy ensuring they are confident to communicate effectively Covid-19 vaccines.
Creatively use all media channels especially social media and use all available languages and dialects when possible. Provide platforms where people can ask questions and address their anxieties. When information is not available, explain that it is so and don’t assume that the public cannot comprehend these.
Ask the help of patient groups and the public to act responsibly and ensure that only information from reliable sources are posted or shared.
Engage other stakeholders
LOOK beyond the public health community in order to gain support and expand the sphere of influence. Work with trusted influencers—from national and international celebrities, to socialmedia influencers to convey information and facilitate dialogue in compelling ways. Remember that it is not always obvious who is locally trusted. In the Philippines, Church leaders are effective influencers and will be important for building public trust and confidence, especially where vaccine confidence is already low.
monitor
CONTINUOUSLY collect and analyze feedback from communities to understand emerging and evolving misconceptions, rumors and concerns. In parallel, monitor perceptions of the vaccination campaigns and of the vaccination experience.
Co-create solutions with patient groups
NOW is the time to increase dialogue and planning with patient groups and advocates, especially what vaccine deployment may look like, especially when there are complexities of multiple vaccines and working in different ways.
Patient organizations can engage their broadcast and social media effectively and work on deploying our members, networks and other social capital to support the national and global immunization programs.
tripartite partnership to boost vaccine confidence
THE International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), the International Public Relations Association (Ipra), and the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) have joined forces to provide a platform for collaboration between the government and the private sector on vaccine acceptance.
A webinar aptly called Vax Populi: Driving Covid-19 Vaccine Acceptance will be featuring medical experts from the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP), the Department of Health and Ingat Angat Tayong Lahat Communications Advocacy.
Tomorrow April 20, from 4 pm to 6 pm, learn from the experts by registering via this link: https://docs. google.com/forms/d/1oz8uxof86 Un597rvrvgxozt_tjv-vysngb4yn0-r0nc/viewform?fbclid=iwar1bmg0fsrzorzwcq7FFTFBIGKARYUQGGQNFYSVM2 huu5-7wciqkba-9noa&editrequested=true#responses.
Attending this webinar and cascading our learnings will help boost vaccine confidence. Accepting vaccination will lead us to herd immunity and the path towards ending this pandemic. After all, no one is safe until everyone is safe.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Karen Alparcevillanueva is a board member of the International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO), the global alliance of patient organizations based in the UK and treasurer of the Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations (PAPO), the national alliance of disease-specific patient groups in the country. She is also a founding member of the Asia-pacific Immunization Coalition (APIC) which is advocating vaccine acceptance in the region.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.