Knowledge, acceptance and willingness to pay for malaria vaccine among residents of a semi-urban community in Kaduna State, North-western Nigeria.

Background: Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic infection associated with high morbidity and mortality in endemic regions. The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved two malaria vaccines for use in children and as countries begin the phased rollout of these vaccines, uncertainties around community awareness, attitudes, and willingness to accept the vaccines remain.

Methodology: This study used a multistage sampling to select 200 mostly female caregivers of children under the age of five years in Samaru, a semi-urban community in Kaduna State, North-western Nigeria. Data on knowledge, attitude, and willingness to accept the malaria vaccine was obtained using a structured questionnaire and analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics. Knowledge and attitude were scored and graded into good and poor categories. The data was presented using frequency tables and a chi-square test was used to check for associations between willingness to accept malaria vaccine and relevant variables. A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The majority of the respondents were females (65.5%) and married (93.0%), with a mean age of 33.1 (±9.3) years. Fifty-seven (28.5%) caregivers heard of the malaria vaccine mostly through healthcare workers and traditional media, while 39 (19.5%) showed good knowledge of the vaccine. A total of 194 (97.0%) had a good attitude towards the vaccine, 188 (94.0%) were willing to accept the vaccine, and 176 (88.0%) said they were willing to pay for it. Factors associated with vaccine acceptance included the caregiver being vaccinated as a child, having at least one child who is vaccinated, and having a good attitude toward the vaccine.

Conclusion: Despite low awareness, willingness to accept the malaria vaccine was high in the community. It is recommended that immediate steps be taken by relevant stakeholders to educate the public and begin the rollout of the vaccine to avoid the spread of rumours and misconceptions.