The Journalists Initiatives on Immunisation Against Polio and Improved Acceptance of the Polio Vaccine in Northern Nigeria 2007–2015

BACKGROUND: The polio eradication initiative had major setbacks in 2003 and 2007 due to media campaigns in which renowned scholars and Islamic clerics criticized polio vaccines. The World Health Organization (WHO) partnered with journalists in 2007 to form the Journalists Initiatives on Immunisation Against Polio (JAP), to develop communication initiatives aimed at highlighting polio eradication activities and the importance of immunization in northern Nigeria. METHODS: We evaluated the impact of JAP activities in Kaduna State by determining the total number of media materials produced and the number of newspaper clips and bulletins published in support of polio eradication. We also determined the number of households in noncompliant communities that became compliant with vaccination during 2015 supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) after JAP interventions and compared caregivers' sources of information about SIAs in 2007 before and after the JAP was formed. RESULTS: Since creation of the JAP, >500 reports have been published and aired, with most portraying polio vaccine positively. During June 2015 SIAs in high-risk wards of Kaduna STATE, JAP interventions resulted in vaccination of 5122 of 5991 children (85.5%) from noncompliant households. During early 2007, the number of caregivers who had heard about SIA rounds from the media increased from 26% in January, before the JAP was formed, to 33% in March, after the initiation of JAP activities. CONCLUSIONS: The formation of the JAP resulted in measurable improvement in the acceptance of polio vaccine in northern Nigeria.