Can Electronic Media Play Role in Polio Eradication in Pakistan? -secondary analysis of Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012-2013

Objectives: Main objective was to find role of electronic media on received polio vaccine doses (1,2,3,0) in households in all regions of the country. The intention was to compare polio vaccination in households who had exposure to electronic media, TV and radio, with households who had no exposure to electronic media.Materials and Methods: Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2012-13, third country wide survey, data was used for the study. In the survey 14,000 households were selected (6,944 in urban areas and 7,056 in rural areas) and there were 12,943 occupied households. From these occupied households, 13,558 ever-married women and 3,134 ever married men age 15–49 were interviewed.  SPSS Multinomial Logistic Regression analyses was used to see statistical significance and to investigate the association between electronic media (radio and TV) and polio vaccine doses (1,2,3,0). A p-value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.Results: Television was more effective than radio in polio vaccination. Children from households who had TV and radio received more polio vaccine doses (1,2,3,0) than children from households who had no TV and radio. Households who had television, had significantly higher polio vaccinated children, vaccination dates on cards and vaccination reported by mothers than those households who had no TV.Rural areas of the country, without radio and TV in households, have more polio unvaccinated children than urban areas. In Balochistan rural areas, households without radio had 37.7% to 76.3% and households without TV had 37.3% to 80.5% polio unvaccinated (1,2,3,0) children which is the highest deprived percentage in the country.Radio and TV were statistically significant and had association with polio vaccine doses (0,1,2,3).Conclusion:Electronic media, TV and radio, has an important role in polio vaccination and can play vital role in polio eradication in Pakistan. Proper designing and delivery of powerful media messages at proper time can create awareness about polio, change behaviour and attitude for polio vaccination.

[1]  Abhijeet Anand,et al.  Surveillance to Track Progress Toward Polio Eradication — Worldwide, 2016–2017 , 2018, MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report.

[2]  Christopher H. Hsu,et al.  Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication — Pakistan, January 2016–September 2017 , 2017, MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report.

[3]  Steven G F Wassilak,et al.  Progress Toward Polio Eradication - Worldwide, 2015-2016. , 2016 .

[4]  Philip M. Massey,et al.  Health-related media use among youth audiences in Senegal. , 2014, Health promotion international.

[5]  G. Egeland,et al.  Development of radio dramas for health communication pilot intervention in Canadian Inuit communities. , 2014, Health promotion international.

[6]  M. U. Khan,et al.  Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards polio immunization among residents of two highly affected regions of Pakistan , 2015, BMC Public Health.

[7]  Sajid Mehmood,et al.  Polio in Pakistan: Social constraints and travel implications. , 2015, Travel medicine and infectious disease.

[8]  Byung-Kwang Yoo,et al.  Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of a Television Campaign to Promote Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Among the Elderly. , 2015, Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research.

[9]  J. McWhirter,et al.  Systematic review of population-based studies on the impact of images on UV attitudes and behaviours. , 2015, Health promotion international.

[10]  K. Viswanath,et al.  Effect of media use on mothers' vaccination of their children in sub-Saharan Africa. , 2015, Vaccine.

[11]  Y. Hadi,et al.  Pakistan: the nidus for global polio re-emergence? , 2015, Journal of infection and public health.

[12]  J. Alexander,et al.  Progress and peril: poliomyelitis eradication efforts in Pakistan, 1994-2013. , 2014, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[13]  J. Alexander,et al.  Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication — Afghanistan and Pakistan, January 2013–August 2014 , 2014, MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report.

[14]  K. Fatima,et al.  Battle against poliovirus in Pakistan. , 2013, Journal of infection in developing countries.

[15]  Syed Asad Ali,et al.  Pakistan's expanded programme on immunization: an overview in the context of polio eradication and strategies for improving coverage. , 2013, Vaccine.

[16]  Hiba Arshad Shaikh,et al.  Reasons for non-vaccination in pediatric patients visiting tertiary care centers in a polio-prone country , 2013, Archives of Public Health.

[17]  J. Qazi,et al.  Hurdles to the global antipolio campaign in Pakistan: an outline of the current status and future prospects to achieve a polio free world , 2013, Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

[18]  Santosh Kumar,et al.  The effect of a vaccination program on child anthropometry: evidence from India's Universal Immunization Program. , 2012, Journal of public health.

[19]  X. Bosch-Capblanch,et al.  Unvaccinated children in years of increasing coverage: how many and who are they? Evidence from 96 low‐ and middle‐income countries , 2012, Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH.

[20]  A. Zaidi,et al.  Does improving maternal knowledge of vaccines impact infant immunization rates? A community-based randomized-controlled trial in Karachi, Pakistan , 2011, BMC public health.

[21]  R. Henderson,et al.  Expanded Programme on Immunization , 1990 .