Results of Boost's Community-Wide Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Survey
Following its approval in the USA, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine will likely be approved for use in pregnant women to protect infants in the coming months in several High-Income Countries. Despite this vaccine being a game changer to reduce morbidity and mortality in neonates in many Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), the vaccine is not expected to be available for most of them until 2025, at the earliest, due to price and production constraints.
In the meantime, some precious time could be gained by ensuring that LMICs are ready for introduction and equitable distribution when this life-saving vaccine becomes widely available. As such, it is critical to start the global, regional, and country levels preparation and planning now.
In order to effectively support high-priority LMICs navigate the complex areas of advocacy, decision-making and prioritization, coordination and delivery platform optimization, training and community engagement, the Boost program conducted a community-side survey in English and French. The intention of this survey was to determine the communities’ level of awareness, risk perception, programmatic barriers and challenges, and capacity requirements. Huge thanks to over 300 community members who took time to respond!
In summary:
•Majority of respondents have none to average level of awareness in relations to RSV infections, symptoms, risk factors, complications and prevention
•Vast majority with no or partial understanding of recent developments, such as type, efficacy, delivery platform, manufactures
•~60% stated that either national or local Sever Respiratory Infections (SRI) data are available
•~90% think SRI is a serious public health concern in their country
•~70% have not come across any public discourse around SRI/ RSV prevention
•~40% have some concerns with the maternal immunization delivery platform for this vaccine
•~100% said they would benefit from either/both technical and adaptive training
•>90% said they would benefit from peer exchange or learning groups
These responses are critically informative and helpful in designing our future programming (in collaboration with you). Thank you again for your engagement. If you have any questions or comments, please write to [email protected].