Improving Malaria Vaccine Adherence — Piloting an Electronic Malaria Vaccine Defaulter Registry in Kebbi and Bayelsa States, Nigeria, December 2025–June 2025
- Presentation Day/Time: Tuesday, April 21, 10:35 AM
- Presenter: Hailey Whitmire, PharmD, MPH, MBA, Global Health Center, Global Immunization Division
The Issue
- Nigeria bears the highest malaria burden globally with 24% of cases and 30% of deaths. In December of 2024, the malaria vaccine was first introduced in two states alongside the electronic Malaria Vaccine Defaulter Registry (eMAVDER), a system that tracks children who have missed or delayed scheduled doses and sends SMS reminders to caregivers.
What We Did
- We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation during December 2024–June 2025 in four local government areas (LGAs) implementing eMAVDER and four non-implementing LGAs across both states.
What We Found
- Though only 41% of the SMS reminders sent were successfully delivered, 79% of caregivers surveyed who received the reminders said they found them very useful. Compared with non-implementing LGAs, children in implementation LGAs had lower default on the second and third malaria vaccine doses, indicating higher adherence.
What This Means
- LGAs implementing eMAVDER had higher malaria vaccine adherence than non-implementing LGAs, despite operational challenges that limited SMS delivery.
