Polio Pulse

Polio Pulse provides social listening insights to support GPEI’s polio interventions on disinformation, crisis communication, and strategic communication. Data is monitored from polio-endemic and outbreak countries and geographies classified by GPEI, covering 12 major languages spoken in these regions. The platform is managed by the UNICEF Digital Community Engagement (DCE) team.

Medium Risk

Polio vaccination campaign called the “destruction of Afghanistan”

Geography
Afghanistan
Themes
Conspiracy theories
Religion
Safety and side effects

Analysis

Polio Free Afghanistan made several social media posts about the nation’s second polio vaccination campaign. The posts received hundreds of responses, including a mix of support for the campaign and distrust of polio vaccines. Several responses called polio drops “poison,” “forbidden,” and the “mother of all diseases.” Others claimed that polio vaccination is a “Western” conspiracy and the “destruction of Afghanistan.”

Recommendations

False claims about the safety of polio drops that circulate during vaccination campaigns can lead to hesitancy. Partnering with trusted community and faith leaders to explain the importance of polio vaccination campaigns may help ease parents’ concerns about their safety. Messaging may emphasize that polio vaccines have been tested and safely used around the world for generations.