Leveraging AI Interactive Agents to Enhance Vaccination Uptake in Suriname and Argentina

implementation

The Latin America and Caribbean region face significant challenges in terms of vaccinations, including disparities in access to vaccines, logistical issues in distribution, and public hesitancy. These challenges have led to lower coverage in certain geographical areas, making it difficult to achieve widespread immunity and control preventable diseases. Addressing these barriers is crucial for improving public health outcomes across the region. Suriname and Argentina are not exceptions to these challenges. In Suriname, national vaccination coverage rates for key childhood vaccinations such as Pentavalent-3, Polio-3, and MMR-1 have not met the 95% target needed to prevent outbreaks, with notable disparities at the subnational level. Districts like Saramacca, Coronie, and Sipaliwini report alarmingly low coverage rates, endangering not only individual children but entire communities. These setbacks have led to a resurgence of diseases once thought controlled, such as diphtheria, measles, and polio. In Argentina, efforts to promote child vaccination are being intensified through a collaborative initiative with the Ministry of Health under the AR-L1409 project. This initiative targets children aged 0 to 24 months, emphasizing the timely completion of vaccinations to prevent diseases like tuberculosis, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, and polio. The strategy involves linking vaccination compliance to the Asignación Universal por Hijo (AUH), a monthly payment made for each child under 18 years of age when their parents are unemployed, work in informal jobs, or are domestic workers. The receipt of the AUH benefit would be contingent upon meeting vaccination requirements. Additionally, within the framework of the project AR-L1358, there is a strong focus on improving HPV vaccination rates, especially addressing the gender gap and the pivotal role pediatricians play in vaccination uptake. Regarding vaccine communication, chatbots are an effective tool, offering a seamless and natural interface to deliver credible and personalized information in real-time. This gives users easy access to accurate information, enhancing their understanding of vaccines and potentially improving their willingness to vaccinate (Passanante, A., et al, 2023). Hong, Y. J., et al (2021) implemented a real-time consultation messenger chatbot to send reminders and motivation boosters to increase children's vaccination rates. The chatbot effectively improved vaccination knowledge, motivation, adherence of parents to their children's vaccination schedules, and parental intention to proactively manage their child's vaccination schedule. Even in contexts of high vaccine hesitancy, such as France, Altay, S. et al (2023) demonstrated the effectiveness of a chatbot designed to answer people's questions about COVID-19 vaccines. Interacting with the chatbot enhanced individuals' intentions to receive the vaccine and positively shaped their attitudes toward vaccination.