Increasing Birth-Dose Hepatitis B Vaccination in Nigeria: Qualitative Analysis of Data From a Crowdsourcing Open Call

Abstract

Background

Despite World Health Organization and Nigerian recommendations for hepatitis B birth-dose (HepB-BD) vaccination, only one-third of Nigerian newborns receive timely HepB-BD vaccination, This study identified facilitators to increasing HepB-BD vaccination based on data from a crowdsourcing open call in Nigeria.

Methods

Our team conducted an open call across Nigeria for teams to submit ideas on how to increase HepB-BD vaccination. Independent judges evaluated the submissions based on predefined criteria. We analyzed textual data from the top 29 entries using iterative coding and thematic analysis within a socioecological model to identify priority facilitators.

Results

The open call received 362 total submissions, and 58.5% (215/362) of submissions were from women. Analysis of the top 29 submissions revealed 6 priority facilitators for increasing HepB-BD vaccination: (1) engage religious and healthcare leaders to educate pregnant women; (2) strengthen national policies for vaccination support and tracking; (3) counter misconceptions to promote attitude and behavior changes; (4) utilize rural infrastructure like town halls and radio programs to disseminate information; (5) translate educational materials into local languages like pidgin; and (6) organize financial or social incentives.

Conclusions

Our crowdsourcing open call identified key facilitators and strategies for increasing HepB-BD vaccination among Nigerian newborns. The findings from this study can inform HepB-BD initiatives in Nigeria and other low- and middle-income countries.