Unveiling and addressing implementation barriers of vaccination communication strategy: Perspectives from government officials at national and provincial levels

ABSTRACT

Communication strategy is one of the support of primary health care (PHC) that can address demand-side barriers and socio-cultural factors to promote better services. Conversely, communication strategies have not been a distinct emphasis of vaccination research in the country until now. Therefore, this study aimed to find the elements that influence the provision of vaccination communication in Pakistan. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in vaccine communication were conducted using qualitative methodologies (Jan 2022–March 2022). The interviews revolved around factors affecting the implementation of communication. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. By using the SURE framework, numerous factors that affect vaccination communication were identified under three major themes such as organizational-level, constitutional, and community-level factors. Five subthemes marked the organizational-level factors such as constrained budget, infrastructure deficits, inconsistent comprehensive strategy, health workforce, and inadequate training. Two subthemes are derived regarding constitutional and community-level factors, respectively, such as governance and leadership, health communication interventions not a policymaker's priority, community perceptions and practices, and formal partnership lacking between national and local stakeholders. Additionally, employment of established communication committees, improved money allocation, engagement of traditional and religious institutions, and political backing were identified as solutions for improvement. Communication activities are an important part of immunization programs in order to increase vaccination coverage. To be able to execute communication interventions more successfully, national and provincial stakeholders must work together to identify the elements that affect vaccine provision. Additional rigorous implementation studies could aid in the development of clearer knowledge of the system-wide constraints obstructing the program’s efficiency.

KEYWORDS:

• Immunization
• communication strategies
• factors
• solutions
• Pakistan

Author’s contributions

The authors of this manuscript are FA, MA, ZB, AM, and YY. FA is the main investigator of the study. FA made a considerable contribution to study design, data collection, interpretation, analysis, and drafting of the manuscript. MA and AM helped in data collection and field notes preparation. ZB and YY were involved in critically reviewing the manuscript. All authors read the final document and approved the submitted version.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data set used and/or analyzed during the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Pharmacy Human Ethics Committee (PHEC), The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan (Ref. no.: 157-2022-/PHEC).

Additional information

Funding

No funding to disclose.