Assefa AN, Haile JM, Woldearegay AG. Factors influencing child vaccine communication practices in Gondar town. World J Clin Pediatr 2026; 15(3): 117704 [DOI: 10.5409/wjcp.117704]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Amlakie Nigussie Assefa, Assistant Professor, Doctorate Student, Department of Journalism and Communication, Bahir Dar University, 12 Ephrata Road, Bahir Dar 79, Ethiopia. amlakie21@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Article-Type of This Article
research-article
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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/
World J Clin Pediatr. Sep 9, 2026; 15(3): 117704 Published online Sep 9, 2026. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.117704
Factors influencing child vaccine communication practices in Gondar town
Amlakie Nigussie Assefa, Jemal Mohammed Haile, Amanuel Gebru Woldearegay
Amlakie Nigussie Assefa, Jemal Mohammed Haile, Department of Journalism and Communication, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar 79, Ethiopia
Amanuel Gebru Woldearegay, School of Media and Communication, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa 1176, Ethiopia
Author contributions: Assefa AN conceptualized the problem, designed the research, collected, analyzed and interpreted the data and wrote the draft manuscript; Haile JM and Woldearegay AG reviewed the draft manuscript; all authors approved the final version of the report.
AI contribution statement: AI tool was used only for language improvement/grammar correction to reorganize the analysis, but not for generating original scientific content. AI tools did not contribute to the study design, data analysis, or interpretation of results. All scientific decisions and conclusions were made by the authors. No AI-generated images were included in this manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Bahir Dar University (Approval No. 14/IRB/24).
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict 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 Statement—checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The participants provided consent data sharing on a reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Amlakie Nigussie Assefa, Assistant Professor, Doctorate Student, Department of Journalism and Communication, Bahir Dar University, 12 Ephrata Road, Bahir Dar 79, Ethiopia. amlakie21@gmail.com
Received: December 15, 2025 Revised: January 28, 2026 Accepted: February 24, 2026 Published online: September 9, 2026 Processing time: 230 Days and 15.2 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Communication is a critical tool for promoting child immunization by enhancing vaccine acceptance and uptake. However, its effectiveness in enhancing child immunization coverage is often hampered by multiple factors. The town of Gondar has been suffering from a conflict/civil war and has low child immunization coverage. Hence, exploring the diverse barriers that negatively influence communication practices in Gondar town is important.
AIM
To explore the barriers to child vaccine communication aimed at promoting child immunization in Gondar town.
METHODS
A qualitative descriptive design was employed from May 2024 to June 2024. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with ten purposively selected health professionals providing routine vaccination services, as well as 18 mothers or caregivers of children participated in three FGDs. The data were thematically analyzed.
RESULTS
There are multiple interconnected factors hindering child vaccine communication in the study area. Health system-related barriers included shortages of communication materials, insufficient immunization-communication training for health professionals, and limited staffing, which, together with heavy workloads, constrained providers’ ability to engage effectively with caregivers. Individual, interpersonal and community-related factors also played a significant role; limited time availability among mothers, language-related challenges and low community involvement reduced opportunities for effective vaccine communication. Additionally, policy and structural challenges, such as child birth registration-related tasks, inadequate transportation, insecurity, and interruptions caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, impeded the delivery and uptake of vaccination messages. Jointly, these findings highlight that barriers to effective child vaccine communication are multifaceted.
CONCLUSION
Child vaccine communication faces barriers across multiple levels. Integrated strategies, training, communication materials, health-system support, caregiver engagement, and policy coordination are essential for consistent communication and improved vaccination uptake in Gondar.
Core Tip: Child vaccine communication is an essential tool for ensuring immunization. However, it is hindered by interconnected factors across multiple levels in Gondar town. This qualitative enquiry revealed that barriers at the individual, interpersonal, organizational, and policy levels negatively affect both the effectiveness and adequacy of child vaccine communication in the study area. Hence, health facilities, immunization program implementors and policy makers should pay attention to these multi-level factors while planning and implementing child vaccine communication interventions.
