Immunisation Services in North-Eastern Nigeria: Perspectives of Critical Stakeholders to improve Uptake and Service Delivery
Objective: We investigated the perspectives of the major stakeholders- parents, health workers (HWs) and traditional medical practitioners (TMPs) on immunisation advocacy, knowledge, attitudes and practice of immunisation as well as ways of improving immunisation uptake in Borno State, North-easter...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PAGEPress Publications
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Public Health in Africa |
| Online Access: | https://www.publichealthinafrica.org/jphia/article/view/1807 |
| _version_ | 1797367450625376256 |
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| author | Semeeh Akinwale Omoleke Babatunji Atunjeba Omotara Adewale Luqman Oyeyemi Omeiza Beida Samuel O. Etatuvie |
| author_facet | Semeeh Akinwale Omoleke Babatunji Atunjeba Omotara Adewale Luqman Oyeyemi Omeiza Beida Samuel O. Etatuvie |
| author_sort | Semeeh Akinwale Omoleke |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Objective: We investigated the perspectives of the major stakeholders- parents, health workers (HWs) and traditional medical practitioners (TMPs) on immunisation advocacy, knowledge, attitudes and practice of immunisation as well as ways of improving immunisation uptake in Borno State, North-eastern Nigeria.
Design: A cross-sectional study analysing quantitative data from the three categories of stakeholders.
Setting: The study was conducted across 18 local government areas (LGAs) of Borno State, North-eastern Nigeria; a region experiencing armed conflict (Boko Haram Insurgency) in the face of underlying sub-optimal immunisation uptake.
Participants: A representative sample of 4288 stakeholders (n=1763 parents, n=1707 TMPS, and n=818 health workers aged 20 to 59years, had complete data.
Results: The level of awareness of immunisation schedule among the stakeholders was high, ranging from 87.2 to 93.4%. Most of the parents (67.9%) and HWs (57.1%) indicated that they had participated in immunisation except the TMPs (27.8%). Between 61.9% and 72.6% of respondents across the stakeholders’ categories have children who had Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI). The most common “side effect” was fever (more than 50% of reported experiences by stakeholders). Safety concerns, preference for the use of herbs and charm, culture and religions, and perception of vaccination as a western culture were the major barriers to immunisation uptake. While the majority (63.6% to 95.7%) of respondents indicated that traditional and community leaders, religious and spiritual leaders and TMPs should be involved in immunisation advocacy, 56.9 -70.4% of them reported that community leaders should be involved in immunisation policy. The respondents indicated that greater involvement of women in immunisation would improve awareness and acceptability of the immunisation campaign.
Conclusion: Scaling-up the involvement of traditional and religious leaders, TMPs and women group in advocacy, policy development and implementation of immunization activties may improve acceptance, create demand and engender ownership of immunisation services in vulnerable communities of Borno State, Nigeria. Also, AEFI could be detrimental to immunisation access and utilisation, therefore health promotion/education strategies should be instituted at service delivery points to minimise the unintended consequences of AEFI on immunisation uptake.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T17:17:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-137a315cb2b4418ebd5a977acded2f0d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2038-9922 2038-9930 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T17:17:32Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | PAGEPress Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Public Health in Africa |
| spelling | doaj.art-137a315cb2b4418ebd5a977acded2f0d2024-01-03T10:38:16ZengPAGEPress PublicationsJournal of Public Health in Africa2038-99222038-99302024-01-01141110.4081/jphia.2023.1807 Immunisation Services in North-Eastern Nigeria: Perspectives of Critical Stakeholders to improve Uptake and Service DeliverySemeeh Akinwale Omoleke0Babatunji Atunjeba Omotara1Adewale Luqman Oyeyemi2Omeiza Beida3Samuel O. Etatuvie4World Health Organisation, NigeriaDepartment of Community Medicine, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, NigeriaDepartment of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, NigeriaFederal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Kaduna, NigeriaNigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency, Lagos, Nigeria Objective: We investigated the perspectives of the major stakeholders- parents, health workers (HWs) and traditional medical practitioners (TMPs) on immunisation advocacy, knowledge, attitudes and practice of immunisation as well as ways of improving immunisation uptake in Borno State, North-eastern Nigeria. Design: A cross-sectional study analysing quantitative data from the three categories of stakeholders. Setting: The study was conducted across 18 local government areas (LGAs) of Borno State, North-eastern Nigeria; a region experiencing armed conflict (Boko Haram Insurgency) in the face of underlying sub-optimal immunisation uptake. Participants: A representative sample of 4288 stakeholders (n=1763 parents, n=1707 TMPS, and n=818 health workers aged 20 to 59years, had complete data. Results: The level of awareness of immunisation schedule among the stakeholders was high, ranging from 87.2 to 93.4%. Most of the parents (67.9%) and HWs (57.1%) indicated that they had participated in immunisation except the TMPs (27.8%). Between 61.9% and 72.6% of respondents across the stakeholders’ categories have children who had Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI). The most common “side effect” was fever (more than 50% of reported experiences by stakeholders). Safety concerns, preference for the use of herbs and charm, culture and religions, and perception of vaccination as a western culture were the major barriers to immunisation uptake. While the majority (63.6% to 95.7%) of respondents indicated that traditional and community leaders, religious and spiritual leaders and TMPs should be involved in immunisation advocacy, 56.9 -70.4% of them reported that community leaders should be involved in immunisation policy. The respondents indicated that greater involvement of women in immunisation would improve awareness and acceptability of the immunisation campaign. Conclusion: Scaling-up the involvement of traditional and religious leaders, TMPs and women group in advocacy, policy development and implementation of immunization activties may improve acceptance, create demand and engender ownership of immunisation services in vulnerable communities of Borno State, Nigeria. Also, AEFI could be detrimental to immunisation access and utilisation, therefore health promotion/education strategies should be instituted at service delivery points to minimise the unintended consequences of AEFI on immunisation uptake. https://www.publichealthinafrica.org/jphia/article/view/1807 |
| spellingShingle | Semeeh Akinwale Omoleke Babatunji Atunjeba Omotara Adewale Luqman Oyeyemi Omeiza Beida Samuel O. Etatuvie Immunisation Services in North-Eastern Nigeria: Perspectives of Critical Stakeholders to improve Uptake and Service Delivery Journal of Public Health in Africa |
| title | Immunisation Services in North-Eastern Nigeria: Perspectives of Critical Stakeholders to improve Uptake and Service Delivery |
| title_full | Immunisation Services in North-Eastern Nigeria: Perspectives of Critical Stakeholders to improve Uptake and Service Delivery |
| title_fullStr | Immunisation Services in North-Eastern Nigeria: Perspectives of Critical Stakeholders to improve Uptake and Service Delivery |
| title_full_unstemmed | Immunisation Services in North-Eastern Nigeria: Perspectives of Critical Stakeholders to improve Uptake and Service Delivery |
| title_short | Immunisation Services in North-Eastern Nigeria: Perspectives of Critical Stakeholders to improve Uptake and Service Delivery |
| title_sort | immunisation services in north eastern nigeria perspectives of critical stakeholders to improve uptake and service delivery |
| url | https://www.publichealthinafrica.org/jphia/article/view/1807 |
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