Bate Papo Vacina! (Let’s Talk About Vaccines!)
This study seeks to amplify the voices of caregivers and health workers and uncover new insights by using principles of community-based participatory research and human-centered design.
Carlota's Mission: Bringing Vaccines Closer to Every Child in Rural Mozambique
For years, the remote community of Nawitela-Namuli in Mozambique’s Zambézia Province faced a difficult choice: walk long distances with young children to the nearest health facility or risk missing routine vaccinations that protect against preventable diseases. Carlota, a community health worker serving Nawitela-Namuli in Gurué District, refused to accept...
Talking about Vaccines: How Communities in Mozambique are Boosting Child Immunization
In the quiet village of Mudine, Mozambique, Jolita, a 27-year-old mother of two, knows the challenges of raising healthy children all too well. When her 2½-year-old son, Alceu, needed his vaccinations, she struggled to keep track of his schedule without a health card. That...
Community Collaboration and Co-Creation with Bate-Papo Vacina! - An Interview with Gaspar Come
A community comprises many parts—community leaders, community health workers, caregivers, and more. To truly address the needs and concerns of the hardest-to-reach people and communities, their voices must be heard. The Bate-Papo Vacina! Project (Let’s Talk About Vaccines) did just that, bringing radical collaboration...
Bate-Papo Vacina! Pilot Project in Mozambique Exceeds Targets and Shows Promise for Long-Term Sustainability
We are thrilled to announce the successful completion of the pilot phase of the Bate-Papo Vacina! (Let’s Talk About Vaccines!) Project in Zambezia Province, Mozambique. This five-year initiative, funded by Wellcome, focuses on understanding and addressing barriers to full vaccination coverage for children under...
Community-first approach to vaccination saves lives
Originally posted on The Seattle Times. Improving routine vaccination for every child, no matter where they live, is one of the world’s most pressing health challenges. Big challenges demand bold solutions – and sometimes the most effective solutions are found by understanding diverse perspectives...
Community-Led Approach to Immunization Shows Promise in Rural Mozambique
A midline evaluation from the University of Western Cape and the University of Cape Town has found that a community-led approach to immunization piloted by VillageReach in rural Mozambique is promising to improve key immunization outcomes. The Let’s Talk About Vaccines program, also known...
Health Workers Celebrate Community Involvement in Mozambique Immunization Initiative
Fernanda Mussa, a health professional in Namorroi, Zambézia, was frustrated by the lack of community involvement in how immunization services were provided, feeling like more could be done to reach caregivers with live-saving vaccines. But now, that has changed. The Bate-Papo Vacina! (Let’s Talk...
Co-Creating with Under-Reached Communities to Improve Routine Immunization Outcomes in Mozambique
What would it look like if communities were involved in designing and implementing the health care solutions they need to thrive? Bate-Papo Vacina! (Let’s Talk About Vaccines) aims to find out. We know that developing top-down solutions is not enough. When communities are involved...
Ingredients for success: Partnering with communities to build immunization solutions in Mozambique
Nearly three years into the coronavirus pandemic, our global push for routine immunizations has been sluggish; 25 million children under 1 year did not complete all of their recommended vaccines in 2021 – the highest number since 2009. As we’ve redirected our resources to...
Caregivers in Mozambique share the barriers they face in vaccinating their children
Originally posted on Gavi.org. What prevents parents from vaccinating their kids? A new VillageReach study in Mozambique looks at the myriad hurdles caregivers must overcome to protect their children. Caregivers in Mozambique want their children to be fully vaccinated, but often physical and social...Background
In Mozambique, 20% of children who start routine immunizations do not complete them. VillageReach’s research study, Bate-Papo Vacina! (Let’s talk about vaccines!), prioritizes caregiver and health worker voices to help explore the drivers and solutions for vaccine dropouts in children under the age of two. We are conducting the research in Mozambique and Malawi in three phases, (1) identify drivers of routine immunization dropout and potential community-based solutions; (2) implement one community-based solution; and (3) evaluate the human-centered design/community-based participatory approach and the impact of the implemented solution.
How It Works
Mozambique is currently in the solution implementation phase. We will pilot the solution for one year; it has three main components: (1) immunization education using pictorial cards that health workers share with caregivers; (2) Mobile brigade prioritization to provide immunization access to hard-to-reach communities; and (3) collaborative immunization planning initiatives that strengthen community and government cooperation to increase immunization access.
Resources
Identifying context- specific drivers of routine childhood immunisation dropout in Mozambique and Malawi: a secondary thematic analysis of qualitative community- based participatory research data
A perspective on essential components for adaptability and scalability to enhance equity-driven vaccination interventions: lessons from Mozambique and Malawi
Endline Evaluation of the ‘Let’s Talk About Vaccines!’ Project in Malawi
Enhancing childhood immunization coverage in Mozambique and Malawi
Co-Creating Health Solutions – Participatory Research and Human-Centered Design for Immunization Programs
Bate-Papo Vacina! Endline Evaluation Report
Evaluation of a multisite community-based participatory immunization project
Bate-Papo Vacina Project: Midline Evaluation
Driving a people-centered approach to expand immunization coverage in Zambézia, Mozambique
Bate-Papo Vacina!
Let’s Talk About Vaccines Study Overview
Determinants of immunisation dropout among children under the age of 2 in Zambézia province, Mozambique
Program Impact
Phase 1 Findings:
Bate-Papo Vacina is a qualitative study to examine drivers of and potential solutions to immunization dropout among children below two years.
Preliminary findings suggest there are four factors in vaccine dropouts: (1) social dynamics between patients and health workers at the health facility prevent mothers from advocating for immunizations; (2) reduced trust in health system due to barriers encountered trying to access services; (3) mothers lack of social support; and (4) concerns around side-effects of vaccines, particularly if the child has started to fall out of schedule.
Endline Evaluation:
UWC’s evaluation showed a 133% reduction in DPT vaccine dropouts and a 47% increase in fully vaccinated children under two compared to baseline data.
Initially piloted in 11 health facilities across 2 districts, Bate-Papo has now expanded to 10 Districts and 1418 CHWs and HWs were trained so far in impactful immunization messages.
Bate-Papo has successfully improved immunization coverage and reduced vaccine dropouts, expanding its reach to a larger population and strengthening community health systems.
Partners
Technical Partners
- Stanford Digital Medic
- University of Western Cape
- University of Cape Town
Donors
- Wellcome Trust
Related Global Impact
See the latest updates from our work to improve access to quality healthcare in the world’s most underserved communities.