Measles
At the end of 2012, Pakistan was hit by an outbreak of the measles epidemic. Many indicate that the outbreak was the result of flooding as the flood areas were dominated by poor, illiterate families. Most of these families lacked adequate resources to get their kids vaccinated. Another factor was their irrational thinking that vaccines are meant to make their children sterile and decrease the growth rate in the country. The outbreak can also be accounted for insufficient routine immunization coverage.
To fight this epidemic, in April 2013, the government launched a campaign to vaccinate every child against measles in coordination with UNICEF. We worked as the communication partners to facilitate the message endorsement. Our first goal was to create awareness about the preventive measures against the viral disease.
The team of Time and Space media agency used an extensive approach to produce and conceptualize documentaries focusing on the prevention and control of the viral disease. We engaged cricketers, TV artists to promote the campaign message. Celebrity endorsement helped in inducing behaviour change about isolating the affected person and using masks in public. The documentary also encouraged avoiding crowded places and repeated washing of hands.
Another documentary promoting the benefits of routine immunization was produced to tap the conscience of parents about the advantages of immunization. Treatment procedure and benefits of early diagnosis were also highlighted to inspire parents to get post-exposure vaccination and immune serum globulin.
Since the outbreak of measles affected almost all areas of Pakistan, our approach was to reach maximum people. For this purpose seminars and workshops to address the preventive measures of measles were conducted in all 36 districts of Pakistan. We approached doctors, medical staff, vaccinators and health workers to guide them about diagnosing measles. As many doctors and health workers have never seen measles and the rash can be confused with several other illnesses. They were also trained in educating parents about the preventive measures of measles to avoid exposure to a measles epidemic
In 2018, in coordination with the government of Pakistan, UNICEF and GAVI we launched the nationwide measles campaign to vaccinate all the kids between 6 months and 7 years of age. The campaign urged all parents to vaccinate their children against measles virus during the nationwide anti-measles vaccination campaign. We worked with the government, UNICEF, and GAVI to maximize the immunization coverage from the north-western mountains to the southern coastline. For the first time in history, the far off areas of Cholistan were visited to ensure that no child was left behind.
Our strategy included reaching out to the parents through documentaries, seminars, workshops, and lectures. Teachers, professors, cricketers, celebrities and community motivators from different cultures and backgrounds were approached by our teams to endorse the campaign message. In rural areas, community motivators, religious leaders and influential community members aided us in the dissemination of the message. We planned to reach out to the urban metros through an outdoor campaign. For this purpose, streamers, billboards and banners were displayed on roads in all major cities.
In addition to this, for past few years, we have worked in close coordination with the public sector to continuously tap the people’s consciousness through awareness campaigns to create a sustainable change in their behavior about immunization. This may help us to reduce the measles outbreaks in future.
