Assefa AN, Haile JM, Woldearegay AG. Child vaccine communication practice in promoting child immunization in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. World J Clin Pediatr 2025; 14(4): 107333 [DOI: 10.5409/wjcp.v14.i4.107333]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Amlakie Nigussie Assefa, Doctorate Student, Journalism and Communication, Bahir Dar University, 12, Bahir Dar 79, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. amlakie21@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Research & Experimental Medicine
Article-Type of This Article
Observational Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Dec 9, 2025 (publication date) through Oct 31, 2025
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Times Cited (0)
Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Clinical Pediatrics
ISSN
2219-2808
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Assefa AN, Haile JM, Woldearegay AG. Child vaccine communication practice in promoting child immunization in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. World J Clin Pediatr 2025; 14(4): 107333 [DOI: 10.5409/wjcp.v14.i4.107333]
Author contributions: Assefa AN collected and analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript; Haile JM revised the manuscript; Wolderegay AG contributed to review the data analysis and discussion section of the manuscript. All authors thoroughly reviewed and endorsed the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the [Bahir Dar University Institutional Review Board] Institutional Review Board (approval No.14/IRB/24).
Informed consent statement: All the participants of the study provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no any conflicts of interest that may influence the submitted work.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The participants provided consent to data sharing on a request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Amlakie Nigussie Assefa, Doctorate Student, Journalism and Communication, Bahir Dar University, 12, Bahir Dar 79, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. amlakie21@gmail.com
Received: March 21, 2025 Revised: May 1, 2025 Accepted: May 29, 2025 Published online: December 9, 2025 Processing time: 225 Days and 3.1 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Child vaccination plays a great role in preventing infectious diseases in children. While Ethiopia has emphasized child vaccination, its effectiveness largely depends on efficient communication between health practitioners and mothers/caregivers. Thus, sufficient communication contributes to promoting child immunization and in turn improving child health.
AIM
To examine child vaccine communication practices and strategies as well as their relationship with sociodemographic characteristics of respondents in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.
METHODS
A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted using a pretested Likert scale questionnaire and distributed to 123 health workers in primary healthcare centers between April 2024 and June 2024. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics.
RESULTS
The results indicated that the most common vaccine communication activities included education and communication (mean score = 24.1), vaccine data registration (mean score = 8.86), and information exchange (mean score = 8.3). A significant correlation was found between the implementation of interpersonal health communication principles and immunization communication training (F = 341.756, P = 0.000, P < 0.05). However, no significant correlations were observed between age, education, work experience, and vaccine communication practices. Additionally, the study found that the application of interpersonal communication principles was associated with the perceived relevance of immunization communication (F = 27.790, P = 0.000, P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION
Based on the findings the study concluded that communication practice in promoting child immunization is insufficient. To enhance vaccine acceptance, continuous immunization communication training for health workers is recommended.
Core Tip: This study presented an innovative approach to child vaccine communication in promoting child immunization in the Amhara region, Ethiopia using a quantitative research approach. We found that immunization communication training has a significant impact on child vaccine communication practice. This finding has a potential influence on showcasing the role that communication plays in primary healthcare service delivery, like immunization. Consequently, it will be used to improve the efficiency and adequacy of child immunization outcomes in the near future. Scholars in the area can study the determinants of effective child vaccine and vaccination communication.
