Polio Pulse

Polio Pulse provides social listening insights to support GPEI’s polio interventions on disinformation, crisis communication, and strategic communication. Data is monitored from polio-endemic and outbreak countries and geographies classified by GPEI, covering 12 major languages spoken in these regions. The platform is managed by the UNICEF Digital Community Engagement (DCE) team.

Medium Risk

Social media user claims the government censored his anti-polio vaccine posts

Geography
Pakistan
Themes
Conspiracy theories
Ingredients
Research and clinical trials
Safety and side effects

Analysis

A social media user posted a video claiming that polio vaccines are being given to children in Pakistan without proper testing or a list of ingredients. Days later, he claimed that the Pakistani government banned the videos, forcing him to upload them to a different social media platform. The two posts have been shared over 800 times and received dozens of comments. Many responses called polio vaccines “poison” and claimed they decrease the birthrate of boys

Recommendations

Messaging may emphasize that polio vaccines are safe, well-tested, and do not contain any ingredients that will harm children or affect fertility. Communicators may also explain that polio vaccines are the only way to protect children and have been safely used for generations.