In this episode of Community Conversations on Vaccines, co-hosts Vince Blaser and Francesca Montalto of the Sabin Vaccine Institute are joined by Dr. Aamer Ikram, chief executive officer of the National Institutes of Health Pakistan, and Rukaya Mumuni, a public health officer and registered nurse in Ghana. They discuss the decline in immunization d…

In this episode of Community Conversations on Vaccines, co-hosts Vince Blaser and Francesca Montalto of the Sabin Vaccine Institute are joined by Rehana Riyawala, vice president at Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), and Doreen Tuhebwe, research fellow at Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH). They discuss HPV vaccination effor…

In this episode of Community Conversations on Vaccines, co-hosts Vince Blaser and Francesca Montalto are joined by Daniela Da’Costa Franco, a researcher and independent consultant for the Ministry of Health of Guatemala, and Deepa Risal Pokharel, senior advisor for social and behavior change and team lead for immunization demand at UNICEF. They exp…

Welcome to Season 5 of Community Conversations on Vaccines, presented by the Sabin Vaccine Institute. In this exciting new season, our focus is on the upcoming Sabin Vaccination Acceptance Research Network (VARN), a conference co-convened by UNICEF, taking place from June 13-15th in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference aims to provide a platform for e…

Co-hosts Vince Blaser and Francesca Montalto are joined by Daren (Paul) Katigbak, a Women Deliver young leader, nurse, and public health professional in the Philippines, and Rita Akiki, a registered nurse and nursing director at Aboujaoude Hospital in Lebanon. They discuss their views on the status of vaccination efforts in their home countries of …

Co-hosts Vince Blaser and Francesca Montalto are joined by Kiran Maharaj, veteran journalist and co-founder and president of the Media Institute of the Caribbean and Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network and Dr. Chizoba Wonodi, researcher and principal investigator, founder of Women Advocates for Vaccine Access (WAVA), and Nigeria Country Dire…

Co-hosts Vince Blaser and Francesca Montalto are joined in New York City on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) by Dr. Anant Bhan, mentor and principal investigator for Sangath in Bhopal, India, and Dr. Kate Hopkins, Director of Research, Vaccine Acceptance & Demand at Sabin Vaccine Institute. Anant and Kate reflect upo…

Co-hosts Vince Blaser and Francesca Montalto are joined in New York City on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) by Ugandan journalist and media trainer Esther Nakkazi and Malawian nurse and advocate Rashid Mang’anda. They reflect upon their take-aways from discussions with global health leaders during the UNGA, approach…

What drives decision-making on vaccines in low- and middle-income countries? How have professionals closest to communities fostered trust? What challenges do they have to overcome to maintain that confidence and build vaccine equity? How has the covid-19 pandemic changed vaccine acceptance and demand? Welcome to Community Conversations on Vaccines.…

Rubina Qasim, an assistant professor at the Institute of Nursing & Midwifery, Dow University Health Sciences in Pakistan, and Dr. Ariel Frisancho, country director of the Catholic Medical Mission Board in Peru, consider the future and how policymakers can build trust and equitable access to vaccines to promote healthy communities. Rubina shares her…

Dr. Caroline Aura, a research scientist at the University of Nairobi, Kenya and Sabin Behavioral and Research Grant program partner, and Yael Berman, a fact-checking reporter for AFP in Brazil, highlight the challenges associated with addressing vaccine misinformation in communities. Dr. Caroline talks about her new research that examines governmen…

Amid war and humanitarian crises across South and Southeast Asia and a recent military coup in Sudan, Dr. Jaya Shreedhar, a health media advisor from India, and Mohamed Modber, a nurse and advocate in Sudan, discuss vaccine equity and acceptance challenges in these settings and consider the support that health workers and journalists need to have t…

Sabin's Community Conversations on Vaccines podcast series explores the topic of vaccines and immunization, targeting an audience of global health policymakers and influencers, through conversations with health workers, other immunization professionals, researchers and journalists from low- and middle-income countries.…

We talk with Dr. Adefunke Adesina, a medical practitioner and epidemiologist and monitoring and evaluation focal person for the Lagos State Ministry of Health, and Elizabeth Kohlway, Senior Manager of Community Building and Digital Engagement at Sabin, about the opportunity to integrate immunization with other health services to touch more people a…

Natalia Flores, a science journalist and researcher and the content manager at Agência Bori, and Dr. Denise Garrett, Vice President of Applied Epidemiology at the Sabin Vaccine Institute and a native of Brazil, discuss the challenges that Brazilian journalists have faced while reporting on vaccines during the pandemic and the need for transparency …

In this episode, we are joined by Dorothy Logedi, a nurse and coordinator of a vaccine program in Kisumu, Western Kenya, and Margaret Odera, a community health worker and mentor mother to women living with HIV in the capital Nairobi’s Mathare slum. Vince and Francesca talk to Dorothy and Margaret about the unique challenges the pandemic has posed t…

Sabin's Community Conversation on Vaccines podcast series explores the topic of vaccine and immunizations, targeting an audience of global health policymakers and influencers, through conversations with health workers, other immunization professionals and journalists from low- and middle-income countries.…

Imagine this: you are a journalist covering your country's election, and the COVID-19 pandemic breaks out. How would you continue to do your job well, while keeping yourself and your family safe? In this episode, we explore those very challenges with Nazima Raghubir, a Guyanese journalist and president of the Guyana Press Association. Vince and Fra…

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Marina Shikhashvili, a primary healthcare expert in Tbilisi, Georgia, with over 30 years of experience. Vince and Francesca talk to Dr. Shikhashvili about the impact COVID-19 has had on the medical community, the challenges of treating patients remotely in a pandemic and how health workers globally can benefit …

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Naveen Thacker, the executive director of the International Pediatric Association. Vince and Francesca talk to Dr. Thacker about the challenges of rolling out COVID-19 vaccines and his experiences delivering routine childhood immunizations and working on India’s polio eradication program. Dr. Thacker discusses …

Sabin's Community Conversation on Vaccines podcast series explores the topic of vaccine and immunizations, targeting an audience of global health policymakers and influencers, health workers, other immunization professionals and journalists from low- and middle-income countries.By Sabin Vaccine Institute