There is also a question of how many people will be willing to get a vaccine right away; experts have said that around 80% to 90% of the population must have immunity to COVID-19 in order to reach ‘herd immunity’, but in countries such as the United States only about 60% are willing to take the vaccine right away. In Africa, where vaccine access has improved greatly in the past thirty years, the spread of false information and conspiracy theories has led to an increase in vaccine hesitancy, threatening to undo the progress that has been made.

With widespread vaccination a crucial factor in eradicating COVID-19, GeoPoll’s most recent study included several questions on vaccine hesitancy and the likelihood of populations to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The study was conducted in November, immediately following the news of Pfizer’s vaccine being at least 90% effective. Questions were administered by SMS to a nationally representative sample in Côte D’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Download the full report below or view the interactive dashboard of results here.

Vaccine Hesitancy in sub-Saharan Africa

In order to assess vaccine hesitancy, GeoPoll asked about vaccine safety and effectiveness and found that in terms of vaccine safety, a third of respondents ‘strongly agree’ that vaccines are safe, while an additional 21% ‘somewhat agree’ and 29% ‘neither agree or disagree’. Confidence in vaccine safety is highest in Nigeria and South Africa, where 41% and 35% respectively strongly agree that vaccines are safe. Those in the DRC were the most likely to report that they strongly disagree that vaccines are safe, at 23% of respondents. There were no large differences observed by age and gender.

Examining vaccine effectiveness, we find similar results, with a third reporting they ‘strongly agree’ vaccines are effective and 24% somewhat agreeing with the same statement. Again those in Nigeria were most likely to strongly agree with vaccine effectiveness, at 40%, while those in DRC were most likely to strongly disagree. Overall slightly more respondents either strongly or somewhat agree that vaccines are effective than they agreed with vaccines being safe.

Comparing this question to findings around trust in government information, we found that those who were less confident regarding their government’s information also reported lower levels of agreement with vaccine safety. Of those who strongly disagreed that their government was providing truthful information, 30% strongly agree that vaccines are safe, while 37% who strongly agreed that their governments information is truthful say the same regarding vaccine safety.

COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance in South Africa, Kenya and more

GeoPoll also asked ‘If a COVID-19 vaccine was available for free today, would you get it as soon as possible?’ and found that in total 42% stated they would ‘definitely’ get it as soon as possible, while ‘20%’ stated ‘probably’. This question showed interesting trends by country, with those in Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa reporting relatively high levels of likelihood to take a COVID-19 vaccine, while those in DRC and Côte D’Ivoire are less likely to take a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible. Although the youngest age group, those aged 15-24, reported slightly lower levels of enthusiasm regarding taking a COVID-19 vaccine than older age groups, the differences were quite small, with 59% of the youngest group and 62% of the oldest group reporting they would ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ take a vaccine as soon as it was available.

When asked what concerns respondents most about a COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine safety was listed first, at 35%, followed by the ability for everyone to get the vaccine at 27%. Interestingly even in countries which had higher levels of agreement with vaccines being safe in general, such as Kenya, vaccine safety is the top concern when asking specifically about the COVID-19 vaccine. The youngest age group was most likely to be concerned over safety of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 37% of those aged 15-24 listing vaccine safety as their top concern.

Similarly to the findings regarding overall vaccine safety and effectiveness, likelihood to take a vaccine is impacted by trust in government information. Of those who either strongly or somewhat disagreed that their government was providing truthful information, 34% would definitely take a vaccine right away, while of those who agreed with their government’s information, 47% would definitely take a vaccine as soon as it’s available.

COVID-19 Vaccine Availability and Delivery

GeoPoll also examined when populations believe a vaccine will be available to the public, finding that the largest group, 39%, reported being unsure, while 31% believe a vaccine will be available between January and June 2020, and only 5% believe that a vaccine will not be available until 2022. Those in South Africa believe a vaccine will be available to the public the earliest, with 39% in South Africa believing that a vaccine will be available between January and June 2020, while respondents in the DRC are least sure about when a vaccine will be widely available.

Vaccine distribution is being heavily discussed as vaccines go into production, with most reports stating that healthcare workers and elderly or vulnerable populations will be the first to receive a vaccine. GeoPoll’s study found that, while 29% believe healthcare workers will receive a vaccine first, 23% believe that ‘those who can pay’ will get it first. Results for this question were also quite different by country; in the DRC and Côte D’Ivoire, the largest groups of respondents believe that everybody will get access to a vaccine at once, while those in Kenya, Mozambique and Nigeria believe healthcare workers will get first access, and in South Africa the highest percent, 31%, think a vaccine will go to those who can pay. By gender, we find that males are slightly more likely than females to believe a vaccine will go first to those who can pay.

Conduct Research on Vaccines with GeoPoll  

These findings, along with the findings on income decrease and mental health outlined in our full report, demonstrate that those who are being hit the hardest by COVID-19 impacts are most willing to take a vaccine as soon as it is available. In the coming months, more research is needed on vaccine hesitancy along with perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine as it begins to be distributed. GeoPoll conducts surveys globally through multiple mobile-based methods, including Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing and SMS. To request more information on our capabilities or get a quote for an upcoming project, please contact us.

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So what is the secret behind Colgate’s continued success and domination of a market that has such formidable players as Aquafresh, Close up and Sensodyne among others?

Advertisement Visibility

The Colgate brand is supported by strong advertisement visibility.

According to the company’s 4^th Quarter and full year 2013 results, Colgate’s leading global market shares in toothpaste and manual toothbrushes remained strong at 44.9% and 32.8%.  It was noted in the report that there had been  a significant increase  in gross profit margin during the quarter, combined with a reduction in overhead costs funded an increase in advertising spending behind Colgate’s brands, both absolutely and as a percent to sales, driving market share performance worldwide. 

Since 2014 to date, there has been continued increase in advertising spend by the Colgate brand in Kenya. As noted in our daily usage survey data, we have focused on Oral care mainly toothpaste and ask the questions to determine advertisement recall, most often used brand, Brands, respondents would recommend and attitude towards the various brands in the category. 

The Colgate consumer advocacy is unmatched by its competitors. Close-Up and Aquafresh enjoy the second and third position of the market share at 12% and 11% respectively. 

The results above show that brand awareness attributed to increased advertisement has influence on usage which leads to likelihood in recommendation to friends and relatives by a consumer of a product.

Sensodyne though small in usage share, has seen its increased marketing activity across the three months bear fruit as its share and recommendation has grown considerably in the month of August compared to June and July.

About GeoPoll’s Brand Health Tracker
GeoPoll’s’ Brand health tracker check focuses on the following key categories: Bar Soap, Toothpaste, Washing Powder, Hair Treatments, Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSDs), Juice and Beer

This summary reports contain aggregated data from October 2014 to date. The survey covers product purchase, usage, recommendation, and attitude by target market. 

Study methodology and focus areas
GeoPoll leverages its user database of 8 million users in Kenya to carry out a quantitative (SMS-Survey) brand health check targeting the general public. The Survey is done on a daily basis targeting 100 randomly selected respondents across Kenya. All respondents to the survey are above the age 15 years old. 

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Currently, little accurate data exists to determine the LF morbidity burden. But an accurate estimation of the prevalence of LF occurs at a low prevalence (<1 percent), therefore requiring large sample sizes and making population-based clinic surveys costly.

In order to better understand the prevalence of two key LF conditions (lymphedema/elephantiasis and hydrocele), GeoPoll and RTI partnered to conduct a mobile phone-based survey in Mtwara Municipal Council in Tanzania. Mtwara Municipal Council was selected because it has one of the highest LF morbidity rates and approximately 60-70 percent of the estimated 108,000 population are mobile phone subscribers.

We estimated that 384 completed surveys were required to assess the prevalence of lymphedema (both male and female) and hydrocele (male only) morbidity. GeoPoll conducted the survey across its database of 16 million mobile subscribers in Tanzania. Participants were randomly selected, asked to express consent in participation, and opted to take the short message service (SMS) survey in English or Swahili. All participants who completed the survey received an airtime top-up credit of TZs500. A total of 492 respondents (384 male and 108 female) completed the survey over a period of four days

Table 1 below details the prevalence of lymphedema and hydrocele. Of the 492 completed surveys, 20.9 percent of respondents reported signs of lymphedema; 20.6 percent of men (384 of completed responses) reported signs of hydrocele.

The survey of LF characteristics demonstrates that mobile phone methods can be rapidly deployed to implement morbidity studies in endemic settings. While there are limitations to the use of mobile-based studies (such as bias and reliance on self-reporting), this approach quickly and inexpensively assists development and health practitioners identify lymphedema and hydrocele morbidity at the community level and critical evidence of where action and further investment is needed.

Further information about findings from this study can be found here

The post GeoPoll Study on Lymphatic Filariasis Morbidity in Tanzania Published in Peer-Reviewed mHealth Journal appeared first on GeoPoll.

On October 26 2016, we administered a survey via SMS to ask residents of certain provinces in DRC what their experiences are working in the mines. Our primary goal was to hear from people directly to quantify issues, to ask them their opinions on what should be done about problems, and to demonstrate that using SMS is a viable form of capturing worker experiences in global supply chains. The effort to poll Congo’s miners,  was motivated in part by The Post’s investigation this year of Congo’s cobalt trade, which found dangerous, at times deadly, work conditions and the presence of child workers.

The DRC is the second largest country by geographical area in Africa with a population of more than 80 million. It is also extremely rich in natural resources. Many of the minerals that are used to make our smart phones, laptops and car batteries are mined in the DRC. However, the U.S. Department of Labor has also found that many of these minerals used in the manufacture of electronics, including others such as diamonds and gold could be mined using child and forced labor.

Perhaps ironically they received and responded to the survey using their mobile phones, the components of which were probably mined under the same questionable circumstances. However, with high rates of mobile penetration in the DRC and other countries that produce goods and materials consumed in the West, feature phones are allowing for quicker data collection—and most importantly facilitating swift intervention and response.

Read the full report

The post In Their Own Words; A Survey of Miners on Health, Safety & Child Labor  in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) appeared first on GeoPoll.

Despite efforts by Kenyan corporates, little has been achieved in the fight against breast cancer. Breast cancer is fast becoming the most common type of cancer affecting both the developed and developing worlds. Breast cancer can affect both women and men and during this duration of breast cancer awareness month a lot of health clinics have come up offering free screenings and sensitization on the same.

According to our recent findings which were centered in Kenya, 23% of the respondents still believe that only women are prone to cancer. This means that a lot of men will most likely not be seeking screening services as they believe it is not a threat to their health.

Advanced cases of breast cancer have seen a lot of patients lose mostly one or two of their breasts and this has always sparked several conversations in both the married and single communities on how serious mastectomy is.

In the month of October, several hospitals in Kenya came forward and had media campaigns running sensitizing Kenyans on the dangers of late detection and how early screenings could save lives and in return offered free screenings. Whether the campaigns were effective was a split of 48% people saying that they were aware that their locals had free screenings while a good 52% had no clue.

All in all Kenya is in the-know with regard to breast cancer although more sensitization on the male demographic would help achieve more awareness and detection

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The Ebola crisis in West Africa has brought together aid organizations, governments and private companies from all over the world, which are donating resources and expertise to fight the spread of the disease. And although the outbreak is not yet over, progress is being made.

But one of the most difficult things for these organizations to access has been data. Access to reliable data is imperative in humanitarian situations — it can track the spread of disease or disaster, helps on-the-ground workers track the awareness and perceptions of their response, and assesses long-term impact after aid workers have left. Data is hard to come by during disaster situations, however, and countries most affected by crises often don’t have a robust system of data reporting. It can be difficult for researchers to access areas due to disease outbreak, damaged infrastructure or dangerous security situations.

In spite of these challenges, there are several ways technology and data have been brought together to fight the Ebola crisis — some organizations use mapping data to track spread of disease, others let people report Ebola-related issues through mobile phones. At GeoPoll, we have worked with organizations including the World Food Program and Keystone Accountability to collect data through remote mobile phone surveys that can be used to help target aid distribution and inform on-the-ground workers of citizen perceptions. GeoPoll issues surveys through SMS or voice messages, allowing organizations to quickly gather information nationally or from key areas, which can then be viewed and analyzed in real time.

With WFP, GeoPoll has been conducting monthly surveys on food security in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. Food insecurity is one of the biggest secondary risks of Ebola, as the disease has driven food prices up and made areas with high poverty rates even more dependent on outside aid.

Through remote mobile surveys, WFP was able to get a high-level understanding of the food security situation, finding that, especially in the Ebola epicenters, it was considered “severe” for many.

In November 2014 WFP released the first report of data collected using GeoPoll surveys, reporting that the Reduced Coping Strategy Index, a way to measure the severity of the behaviors households engage in when faced with crises, was high in areas hit hardest by Ebola, including Kailahun and Kenema in Sierra Leone. Over 80 percent of respondents in these areas reported consuming less expensive or preferred foods, and 75 percent reported needing to reduce the number of meals per day and portion sizes due to a lack of food.

The ongoing reports created from remote mobile surveys have been published by WFP’s mVAM unit, and data is being used to target aid and create awareness around the risks of food insecurity in crisis areas.

GeoPoll has also been working with Keystone Accountability’s Ground Truth Solutions team to survey citizens throughout Sierra Leone on the perceptions of the Ebola response and attitudes toward checkpoints, quarantine and welcoming Ebola survivors back into communities. This information is crucial for on-the-ground workers, as it gives them a real idea of how citizens view their progress.

We have been collecting data weekly and biweekly since December 2014, and the data truly does reflect the situation in Sierra Leone. The week of Dec. 3, 70.8 percent of the 350 respondents said they believed the Ebola response was making progress against the spread of the disease. This percentage climbed up steadily as the number of new cases went down, and in the week of Feb. 10, 86.5 percent believed the response was making progress. However, we saw this number decline to 80.2 percent in the week of March 10, and 84.8 percent the week of March 26.

Why is this? We found that the perceptions of the progress went down in early March as cases spiked in Freetown, and transport restrictions that had been stopped were reinstated. Other data points show that between 54 and 60 percent of respondents say people are worried about harassment at checkpoints, and over 70 percent report that people are scared to visit health facilities for non-Ebola related illnesses.

The value of this data is huge. One agency has used this data to request additional funding for quarantine supplies, and another has increased their investment in educational programs surrounding the stigma of Ebola. In addition, it is an excellent example of sharing resources and partnering for more effective development, as both Keystone and GeoPoll have made the data publicly available on our websites so that other organizations can take advantage of the findings.

Data provides increased awareness and knowledge of humanitarian situations, and allows NGOs and governments to act quickly based on accurate, timely information. In keeping with effective development cooperation as defined by the Busan principles, such data helps create transparent and equitable development, as well as ensuring a strong focus on results.

As the Ebola crisis continues, and even after the current outbreak has subsided, data will show the global community long-term effects of the disease, and eventually will inform how governments, organizations and citizens can work together to manages crises better in the future.

This article was originally published on Devex in collaboration with the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation. Read more expert comment at http://devcooperation.org. 

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At GeoPoll, we’re working with partners worldwide to monitor the spread of the disease and understand the long-term effects of Ebola. Our ongoing work with the World Food Programme has already provided valuable data on food security in Sierra Leone, and the WFP has also just released findings from our surveys in Liberia, and Guinea.  All 3 countries are currently affected by food insecurity, and the regions where Ebola is most prevalent have even more fragile food security than surrounding areas.  

This survey only included these two simple questions, but over the next months GeoPoll will work with partners to collect valuable information on knowledge of Ebola spread, symptoms, and more. As a note, GeoPoll always takes very seriously the privacy of respondents, and we have put extra precautions in place when asking about sensitive health issues such as Ebola. All responses are completely anonymous, and when asking questions about the disease we are including a message informing the participants that we are asking about Ebola, and that their responses are confidential. We are also including the phone number for the national Ebola hotline for users to call with health concerns, displayed at both the beginning and end of surveys. 

For more data from GeoPoll’s surveys, sign up for our blog alerts at the top of this page, and click below to contact us about running your own survey with GeoPoll. 

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This month we started a 3-month round of data collection in the 3 countries looking at food security in Ebola epicenters and the surrounding areas. Mobile data collection allows for research to be done in areas which can’t be accessed by on-the-ground researchers, which is why the WFP has parterned with GeoPoll to send food security surveys through text and voice messages. The first results, from Sierra Leone, were released earlier this month, and demonstrate that people in the two Ebola epicenters are worse off in terms of food security and wages than in the surrounding areas.

Those living in Kailahun and Kenema have higher scores on the reduced Coping Strategies Index, indicating they use severe food coping strategies more often, restricting portion size and buying less expensive food more than those in neighboring regions.  The wages for casual workers in these two areas are also significantly less than in the rest of the country, likely affecting the food security situation.  You can read the full report on the food security sitation in Sierra Leone here, and check back for data from Guinea and Liberia, which will be released in the next few weeks.

The post Ebola’s Impact on Food Security: A GeoPoll-WFP Analysis appeared first on GeoPoll.

Mobile technology has come such a long way since its development in the 1970’s. In just the past decade, the advancement mobile technology has made is astonishing. In the western world, our smartphones do everything for us; schedule meetings, manage our bank accounts, check Facebook, even pay for our Starbucks. The list keeps going, and it seems there isn’t anything our phones cannot do. If our phones can do all that, shouldn’t they be able to help us with our health?

Healthcare has always and will always be an important issue in the world, for good reason. Being active and eating the right food is vital to maintaining a healthy body and protecting yourself from illness. In America, citizens are increasingly struggling with obesity, but modern medical and phone technology are advancing every day, making it easier to stay healthy. With new technology and apps, our phones can make it easier to manage our health and weight loss, with apps that can calculate BMI, track fitness, or remind you of a diet plan. Tech giants like Google and Apple are pairing up to “reinvent” healthcare: Apple’s new app, Health Kit, combines all the features offered on multiple apps for monitoring your health in one hub. Apple is also partnering with the Mayo Clinic to notify your doctor if your blood pressure rises above normal levels. It appears a lot of cell phone giants are also joining the health app bandwagon, including Samsung, who has developed a fitness band, the Gear Fit.

In developed nations a majority of health concerns are not life threatening, but when looking at developing nations, having access to healthcare could mean life or death. There is a growing trend in these countries to use mobile phones to improve access to medicine or doctors, and educate on general medical knowledge. In Africa, over 80% of people own cell phones. App developers are taking advantage of this growing market by creating applications for “dumb” phones, cellphones which have few advanced features. In Zambia, the Ministry of Health is pairing with IBM to improve the health care system through IBM MobileFirst, which will allow healthcare facility staff in three Zambian districts to use mobile devices to scan barcodes to record and transmit medical stock. Not only will this allow better access to vital medication, but it will enhance the awareness of usage patterns of medications. In Bangladesh, mothers are using their phones to access health information and get weekly text updates on childcare. 

This kind of access to health information teaches people the importance of vaccines, check-ups, prenatal care, postnatal care, and general medical knowledge, and can improve the lives of millions of people. A recent poll GeoPoll ran highlights the importance and desperate need for better healthcare in Africa. GeoPoll ran surveys in 10 African countries asking respondents “Did anyone in your family need to see a doctor in the last 7 days?” Over 52% of respondents said yes. Everyone knows that developing countries need better access to healthcare and drugs, and with mobile technology growing it seems hopeful new apps can provide a solution. The kind of healthcare access apps provide can change the lives of many people in developing nations, and the difference mobile technology will make in these emerging markets will be exciting to witness.

The post Mobile Healthcare in the World appeared first on GeoPoll.

Mobile Money  

Electronic payments and mobile money are fast taking over the banking world in certain nations in Africa, so we asked respondents if they had sent or received electronic payments in the last week.  Tanzania and Kenya, where several prominent mobile money apps such as TigoPesa and M-Pesa have emerged, had the high percentages of respondents using mobile money, 39% and 32% respectively. South Africa also had 35% who said they had received or sent money electronically in the last week, whereas only 15% said the same in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Health

Our health-focused question asked respondents “did anyone in your family need to see a doctor in the last 7 days?” The results were clear, and demonstrate the need for access to doctors and preventative care in emerging markets: 52% of the 16,950 respondents said yes, and in countries including Uganda and the DRC the number was even higher.  62% of over 2,000 respondents in Uganda said they or a family member needed to see a doctor in the last week, and 59% in the DRC said the same.

Media

The final question we asked respondents for this survey was if they felt they could trust their local media, including newspapers, magazines, and radio.  Press freedom in many African countries is still not a given, and the state can exert unofficial control over the press even in those countries which do have laws around freedom of the press.  Freedom House, an independent press watchdog organization, estimates that out of 50 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, only 3% of the total population has access to completely free press.  Our results show a mix of trust across countries: in total, 35% did not trust their media across all 10 countries, but some countries had more trust in their media, including Tanzania, where 75% reported trusting their local media, and Kenya, where 69% said the same.  While Reporters without Borders does not rank either of these countries extremely high on press freedom, they are about in the middle of the 179 countries ranked in 2013: Tanzania was #70 and Kenya #71.

At GeoPoll we aim to understand the world through mobile data collection. These surveys provide a snapshot into the lives of people who do not always have a voice, and we continue to run surveys every day on important issues like food security and media habits. Keep checking our blog and following us on twitter to stay up to date with the latest GeoPoll insights!

To run a GeoPoll survey of your own, contact us today.

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