Guwahati: Voluntary Health Association of Assam (VHA of Assam), with guidance and approval from the Assam health departments, is successfully implementing the public education campaign ‘Win with Vaccines’ for building COVID-19 vaccine confidence in four low coverage districts across Assam.
VHA of Assam is a non-profit organization working to strengthen the health movement at the grassroots level in Assam.
The organization has carried out the campaign in Baksa, Chirang, South Salmara, and Udalguri districts, in collaboration with NATHEALTH – Health Care Federation of India, and the Centre for Knowledge and Development (CKD), said a statement.
The programme was simultaneously launched in the four districts in August this year. The objective of the campaign is to engage key stakeholders, collaborate with district authorities, and implement a comprehensive public education programme to address knowledge gaps regarding the advantages of vaccination.
The programme is using an effective communication strategy that utilises both old and new forms of media.
The ‘Win With Vaccine’campaign focuses on the Left Out, Drop Out and Resistant (LODOR) population across all age groups, with emphasis on school children in the 12-17 year age group and their parents to raise awareness, build confidence, and complete their COVID 19 vaccination.
To reach out to more people, local talent groups, influencers, youth icons, religious leaders, community leaders, women leaders and the school fraternity were engaged in the campaign.
For maximum outreach, IEC/BCC materials (including posters, banners, and folders), are being distributed at the community level via Influencers, ASHAs, ANMs, and other stakeholders.
The dissemination is primarily carried out in places where community members usually congregate like village corners, religious places, Health Centres, schools, marketplaces, and during festivals.
Street plays, Miking, Radio Jingles, posters and wall paintings, highlighting the importance of complete vaccination further emphasizes the goal and objective of the entire campaign.
“Even though the government is conducting extensive vaccination campaigns throughout the state, there are still a few pockets where people are reluctant to get vaccinated. People are avoiding the COVID-19 vaccination for numerous reasons, including myths and misunderstandings. This campaign is intended to dispel these myths and misunderstandings and prepare the vaccine-hesitant population for immunization,” said Ruchira Neog, Executive Secretary of VHA of Assam.
“The campaign is tailored to reach the most hard-to-reach pockets of the district through a variety of contextualized communication mediums to maximum impact and get the desired outcomes,” said Seema Gupta Advisor, Centre for Knowledge and Development,(CKD ) New Delhi.