Mission: To make health a top priority for everyone in Northern Ireland.

Aim:
To provide information both to members of the public and health professionals about the new Group C meningococcal vaccine and the planned immunisation programme.

To create a supportive, informed environment to enable the successful implementation of the programme.

Objectives:

• To achieve a major impact on Group C meningococcal disease, which is one of the foremost causes of death from infectious disease in children and young people.
• To emphasise the importance of adhering to the immunisation timetable so that a controlled introduction of the vaccine prioritises those most at risk.
• To support the programme target that all children and young people under 18 years will be immunised either through their local surgery or their school before the end of the year 2000*.
• To stress the continuing need to be aware and alert to the signs of meningococcal infection as the new vaccine is only effective against one strain of the disease.

*The vaccination programme was extended in 2002 to include 20-24
year-olds.

Background:
Meningococcal infection is relatively rare but it is still the most common infectious cause of death in children and young people up to the age of 20. For this reason a year long phased vaccination programme was carried out beginning in 1999 targeting all children up to the age of 18. Over a million vaccines were given to children and young people.

The Agency was commissioned to design and implement a major public information campaign to support the vaccination programme.

First-year students at university had already been targeted by the DHSSPS in September and October 1999 using promotional materials produced by the Department of Health in England.

The campaign:
The campaign took the form of television and radio advertisements supported by posters and leaflets giving the facts about the vaccine and the timetable for immunisation. More than one million leaflets entitled Meningitis: Reduce the risk for children and young people were distributed via health centres, pharmacies, newspapers and schools. With the help of the Multi-Cultural Resource Centre the Agency produced versions of the leaflet in Chinese, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic and Bengali.

Click here to view the television advert

A factsheet for health professionals was produced to provide detailed information about the disease and the vaccine, and an information sheet entitled Meningitis C - key facts about the immunisation programme was prepared for reception staff in GP surgeries and health centres. In 2000 the leaflets were updated.

In January 2002 the vaccination programme was extended and the vaccination offered to 20-24 year olds. To encourage young people in this age group to visit their GP to get the vaccine the Agency ran press advertisements in local newspapers and student publications.

Evaluation:
The number of recorded cases of meningococcal C has decreased since the vaccination programme began.