ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Malaria remains a significant public health challenge, particularly in tropical regions, with children under 5 years being disproportionately affected. Despite advancements in malaria control, such as vector management and early treatment, the disease continues to burden low-resource countries like Nigeria, contributing to high morbidity and mortality rates. The development and introduction of malaria vaccine represents a critical opportunity to mitigate this impact. However, vaccine hesitancy, driven by misconceptions, socio-economic barriers, and distrust in healthcare systems, threatens the success of this intervention. OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the knowledge of, attitude towards, willingness and factors affecting willingness for uptake of malaria vaccine among caregivers of under-5 children in BeninCity, Edo State, Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 386 caregivers of under-5 children in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. Tools utilized for this study were interviewer-administered questionnaires which were adapted and modified from different works of literatures. Statistical analysis was done using the IBM SPSS version 27 software. Univariate and bivariate analyses were carried out for all variables. Multivariate analysis using binary logistic regression were carried out at a 95% confidence interval to further determine factors influencing willingness for uptake of malaria vaccine. Appropriate institutional ethical board approval and informed consent were obtained from all participants. RESULTS: All the 386 respondents had heard of malaria (100.0%) but only 156 (40.4%) were aware of the malaria vaccine. Less than half of the respondents (47.4%) had good knowledge of malaria prevention. About four-tenth (39.2%) of the caregivers knew that the malaria vaccine was useful as a means of reducing the severity of malaria. About three-fourth of the respondents (75.9%) had a positive attitude towards the malaria vaccine. There was a high level of willingness for uptake of the malaria vaccine among the respondents as more than 8 in 10 caregivers were willing to give their children/wards the new malaria vaccine. CONCLUSION: The overall awareness and knowledge of malaria vaccine among caregivers of under- 5 children is low although awareness of malaria and knowledge of malaria prevention is fair. There was positive attitude by majority of the caregivers and also a high willingness for vaccine uptake. There is need to increase efforts at creating awareness of the malaria vaccine, incorporate the vaccination efforts/program during implementation with other health programs already in existence and also ensure the vaccines are available where and when needed amongst other measures. Keywords: malaria vaccine, caregivers, attitude, willingness, uptake
