PAHO Webinar on Behavior change, Risk communication and Community engagement strategies to increase vaccine acceptance in the Americas

Background

The drivers of human behavior are complex and context-specific. Evidence has shown that simply telling people what they should or should not do is usually not enough to make people change their actions. This is especially the case with vaccination, where many complex factors can influence individuals’ decisions to get themselves vaccinated, including the perception that vaccination is riskier than being infected with a vaccine-preventable disease (VPD). Multiple factors from the political, social, economic, and cultural spheres can influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of an individual or a community to get vaccinated.  

One of the most important things governments can do to strengthen trust in vaccination is to follow risk communications and community engagement (RCCE) principles. In the absence of clear communication, rumors about the risks of vaccination, distrust in the immunization program, and refusal or hesitancy to get vaccinated can flourish. Failure to communicate effectively about vaccination can result in serious reputational issues to immunization programs and the health system at large, decreased vaccine acceptance and uptake, and increased risk of outbreaks of VPD among under-immunized population groups.

To support national immunization programs to strengthen the public’s trust in vaccination, PAHO is hosting this webinar to present new elements of its Immunization Toolkit on social communication and vaccine demand generation: two new web pages with resources for risk communication and community engagement and behavioral science: vaccine demand and confidence. Additionally, the webinar will include presentations the Behavioral and Social Drives of Vaccination (BeSD) framework and methodology.

Audience

The primary audience for this session is the following:

• Ministry of Health professionals focused on communicators and health promotion at all levels (national, subnational, and local), especially those working in the field of immunization.
• PAHO Country Office immunizations and communications focal points.
• Immunization health professionals working on communication topics at partner organizations who may be interested in participating.

Objectives

The objectives of this webinar are:

• To familiarize participants with PAHO’s materials related to behavioral sciences, risk communication, community engagement around the topic of vaccination.
• To present strategic and operational tools that can help national immunization programs understand how to increase vaccine acceptance in specific population groups. 

When?

Tuesday 12th November 2024 - 10:00 a.m. (EST)

Where?

Zoom registration here

Simultaneous interpretation will be provided for English, Portugues and Spanish

Agenda