Welcome to the DCEU newsletter. This newsletter provides updates on a weekly basis, tracking trends and misinformation for regional officers in five regions affected by polio: Eastern and Southern Africa (ESARO), Middle East and North Africa (MENARO), South Asia (ROSA), West and Central Africa (WCARO), and Europe and Central Asia (ECARO).
We will link to screenshots of misinformation in each of the sections below so you can see what is spreading. All identifying information in the images has been obscured. Repeating the falsehoods or passing along this misinformation to the public can reinforce the misinformation and increase its reach. Direct links to misinformation are often deleted or removed, sometimes by the bad actors themselves and at times because the misinformation violates the policies of social media companies.
Note that we have office hours for technical assistance for all Country Offices to join in and ask any questions related to the DCEU and/or uInfluence every Wednesday at 7 a.m. ET. Link to meeting here.
Rotary International announced a partnership with the Gates Foundation in a joint commitment to end polio. The partnership aims to raise $450 million to support global polio eradication.
Global health leaders celebrated the 12th anniversary of India’s polio-free status with a commitment to eliminate measles in the region. A WHO regional director reflected on the challenges of eliminating wild polio in India and expressed optimism for similar success in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Missed vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in outbreaks of measles in southeast Asia, prompting increased efforts to boost immunization and eliminate another deadly childhood disease.
Routine childhood immunization in the U.S. has declined by 2 percent during the pandemic. Around 93 percent of children entering school last year were vaccinated against polio, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and chickenpox, below the national target of 95 percent. While many states met or exceeded the target, several fell far short of it. Polio immunization rates are below 85 percent in the District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, and Wisconsin, while only 77 percent of new school children in Alaska were fully vaccinated against polio. News of declining polio immunization rates comes as the state of New York reports 12 new poliovirus samples in wastewater.
Eastern and Southern Africa (ESARO): Sudan responds to a cVDPV2 outbreak.
Middle East and North Africa (MENARO): Somalia plans anti-measles and anti-polio drives; Iran’s foreign national vaccination campaign is a success; Houthi leadership blamed for Yemen disease outbreaks.
South Asia (ROSA): Pakistan launches first polio drive of the year as Afghanistan battles polio amid a famine.
West and Central Africa (WCARO): Nigeria hosts a polio response meeting.
Eastern and Southern Africa (ESARO)
News and updates
Sudan is responding to an ongoing cVDPV2 outbreak after the virus left a young boy in West Darfur paralyzed late last year. The virus strain is not related to the one that caused an outbreak in 2020. The country’s ministry of health launched an immunization campaign for children under age 13 in areas affected by the outbreak. Two nationwide polio vaccine drives are also being planned, each targeting nearly 9 million children under age 5. No new infections have been reported in the four weeks since the case was announced.
Emerging misinformation
South Africa
Rumors circulate that the polio vaccine is unsafe and causes AIDS A tech entrepreneur who is well-known for promoting anti-vaccine misinformation shared a blog post questioning the safety of the polio vaccine. In response, a South African user shared the debunked claim that HIV originated in polio vaccine trials. The post misidentifies PubMed, a database of research literature maintained by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), as an “NIH website.”
🔴 Risk assessment: High risk
Debunking polio misinformation takes time, and addressing this misinformation could detract from priority talking points. However, the high-profile nature of its source elevates its risk. The myth that polio vaccine experiments could have caused HIV is based on a long-discredited magazine article and book. Emphasizing that there is no link between vaccines and HIV or AIDS in materials that debunk misinformation, such as FAQ web pages, is recommended, as is explaining that a study published in 2004 definitively disproved the myth.
Sudan
A reemergence of polio in Sudan fuels vaccine misinformation The cVDPV outbreak in Sudan has prompted some social media users to question the purpose of polio vaccination. One post compares pharmaceutical companies to a “local drug dealer” and claims that vaccines are only for profit. Another post claims that polio was gone from Africa until vaccines brought the disease back.
🟡 Risk assessment: Medium risk
The persistence of this misinformation elevates its risk. The post promotes misconceptions about OPV and its role in polio eradication. OPV is responsible for the elimination of wild polio in Sudan. Messaging may emphasize that in communities with low immunization rates, cVDPV occurs when the vaccine virus is spread from one unvaccinated child to another, usually in situations of low sanitation. Over time, the virus can mutate and cause paralysis similar to wild poliovirus. Using trusted messengers and prebunking messages to explain that the best way to prevent any type of polio outbreak—whether wild polio or cVDPV—is to vaccinate children is recommended. Materials can also emphasize that polio will not be eliminated anywhere until it is eliminated everywhere and that vaccinating children worldwide is crucial to this effort.
Middle East and North Africa (MENARO)
News and updates
The Somali Pediatric Association held a conference in Mogadishu to discuss measles prevention and polio eradication. Somalia reported four cVDPV2 cases and over 15,000 measles cases last year. In November, it conducted a nationwide integrated polio and measles immunization campaign that reached over 2.6 million children in the midst of devastating drought and conflict.
Iran’s campaign to provide polio, measles, and rubella vaccines to foreign nationals has reached over 426,000 people, according to the ministry of health. The campaign has so far focused on children under the age of 15.
Media sites continue to blame Houthi leadership for disease outbreaks in Yemen. Regions controlled by the militia have reportedly suffered a collapse of health infrastructure, resulting in outbreaks of polio, cholera, diphtheria, and dengue fever.
Emerging misinformation
Region
False claim persists that vaccines cause polio and COVID-19 A social media post claiming that polio and COVID-19 vaccines cause the diseases that they are meant to protect against continues to spread throughout the region. This week, the video was shared by social media accounts based in Yemen.
🟢 Risk assessment: Low risk
Responding to each piece of misinformation may detract from priority talking points, and the low engagement on this post lessens its risk. While this piece of misinformation is not new, its persistence demonstrates the widespread nature of misinformation about vaccines of all kinds. Messaging may explain that the best way to prevent polio in any form is to vaccinate all children. Emphasizing that vaccine-derived polioviruses are extremely rare and are only dangerous to people who are unvaccinated is recommended, as is explaining that cVDPVs spread in areas with low polio immunization and poor sanitation.
South Asia (ROSA)
News and updates
This week, Pakistan launched its first national polio vaccination campaign of the year, targeting around 44 million children under age 5. The campaign is supported by over 360,000 health workers in 156 districts. Health workers in several districts organized strikes during the campaign, citing a lack of pay.
Health officials in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, warn that rising malnourishment among children in the district puts them at particularly high risk of polio. Afghanistan has faced a sharp increase in poverty and hunger since international groups suspended aid to the country following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.
Emerging misinformation
India
Thread shares unverified stories of children dying after vaccination A lengthy social media thread compiles “news” of children in India who supposedly died shortly after receiving vaccines. In one example, an infant reportedly died two days after receiving polio, hepatitis, and pentavalent (diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, and HiB) vaccines. The linked article claims that the family of the child believes a health worker administered the wrong vaccine and that the case is being investigated. Many of the stories in the thread are screenshots of headlines or unverified online comments.
🟡 Risk assessment: Medium risk
The death of any person is tragic, and it’s up to health and legal authorities to determine whether an adverse side effect occurred after vaccination. There is no evidence that vaccines played any role in the deaths. Emphasizing that all vaccines go through rigorous safety testing, including clinical trials, before they are approved for the public is recommended, as is explaining that countries will only register and distribute vaccines that meet rigorous quality and safety standards. Continuing to emphasize key prebunking messages is recommended: Vaccines are very safe. You are far more likely to be hurt by a vaccine-preventable disease than by a vaccine.
Afghanistan
Video claims polio vaccines are being sold to “drug addicts” A video claims that polio vaccines are being sold on the illegal drug market. The post claims that people who use drugs are unwittingly buying the vaccines. It’s unclear if the poster is comparing the vaccine’s safety to that of illegal drugs.
🟢 Risk assessment: Low risk
Responding to each piece of misinformation may detract from priority talking points. Although this piece of misinformation had relatively low engagement, it is an example of how vaccine opponents attempt to portray vaccines as dangerous or toxic. Continuing to emphasize the polio vaccine has been rigorously tested and administered safely for several generations is recommended.
West and Central Africa (WCARO)
News and updates
Nigeria hosted a national polio emergency operation meeting as the country prepares for polio campaigns in nine states. Although Nigeria has not had a wild polio case since 2016, 42 cVDPV2 cases were reported last year. Vaccine hesitancy persists in Nigeria as some mothers in Bayelsa fear that the vaccine is too potent to be given to their infants.
Emerging misinformation
Nigeria
Video promotes myth that vaccines are part of a depopulation plan A user responded to an old Bill Gates social media post congratulating Nigeria for rolling out the new rotavirus vaccine with a video claiming that vaccines are used to depopulate. The post includes the hashtags #Kano and #NeverForget, in an apparent reference to the 1996 Pfizer clinical trial for a meningitis treatment in Kano. The trial, which was conducted at the height of the worst meningitis outbreak in Africa’s history, left 11 children dead and dozens of others with disabilities. Nearly three decades later, distrust of the company and Western pharmaceutical companies remains.
🟡 Risk assessment: Medium risk
The sensitive topic of this misinformation and the widespread reach of the video elevates the risk. Debunking polio misinformation takes time. Conspiracies that vaccines are meant to control or eliminate populations will persist, as they have existed for decades. In some cases, as in Africa, concerns regarding medical experimentation are understandable. Experts agree that depopulation conspiracies circulating in communities that have experienced unethical medical research or experimentation can only be combated by first acknowledging that serious abuses have occurred in the past and that these abuses are what led to the safeguards that exist now. Continuing to emphasize that the polio vaccine is extremely safe and rigorously tested is recommended, as is highlighting that polio vaccination programs are run by local ministries of health without Western interference.
Europe and Central Asia (ECARO)
Emerging misinformation
Albania
Post argues OPV should be avoided because of cVDPV In a thread about the necessity of vaccines, one user argues that vaccine-derived poliovirus is a reason not to vaccinate children.
🟢 Risk assessment: Low risk
Misinformation continues to spread about whether or not the polio vaccine can cause polio. Emphasizing that polio outbreaks most often occur in places with low immunization rates is recommended. Using trusted messengers to explain that the best way to prevent any type of polio outbreak—whether it's wild polio or cVDPV—is to vaccinate children is also recommended. Materials may also emphasize that polio will not be eliminated anywhere until it is eliminated everywhere and that vaccinating children worldwide is crucial to this effort.
Croatia
Post blames polio vaccine for autoimmune disease In a post calling Bill Gates a “parasite,” a commenter blames the philanthropist and the polio vaccine for the autoimmune disease she developed as a child.
🟢 Risk assessment: Low risk
Responding to every conspiracy theory may detract from priority talking points. Although this piece of misinformation had low engagement, it is an example of how vaccine opponents attempt to baselessly link vaccines to a variety of health issues. Messaging may explain that polio vaccines are rigorously tested and incredibly safe. Children are at great risk of death and disability from polio, not from immunization.
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