Vaccine hesitancy - lessons from South Africa and Brazil
A study comparing Brazil and South Africa reveals that vaccine hesitancy is driven by a complex mix of social determinants rather than a single factor. While lower-income families struggle with practical barriers like access and transport, higher-income families are more influenced by personal values and beliefs.
Why it matters
Understanding these diverse barriers is essential for governments to design effective immunization programs that reverse declining vaccination rates.
Vaccine uptake has been declining in Brazil and South Africa over the past decade, reversing important gains in protecting children against vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, polio, diphtheria and whooping cough. But the reasons are varied, and can’t be boiled down to a single factor, write Camila Matos, Charles Shey Wiysonge and Marcia Thereza Couto in The Conversation .
The article presents academic research findings on social behavior without taking a political stance on vaccination.
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