The Drum Beat – Issue 603 – Impact Series #3: Reaching Every Child: Communication for Polio Eradication India
January 16 2012
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…9 million people were exposed to polio messages during religious congregations in 2010, compared to 5 million in 2009…
…Areas with community mobilisation coordinators (CMCs) reported higher booth coverage as compared to non-CMC areas…
…There were also fewer missed children in those areas…
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From The Communication Initiative Network – where communication and media are central to social and economic development.
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Access this issue online at http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_603.html
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This issue of The Drum Beat is the third in a series of 5 that highlight specific examples of the impact that communication is having on development in a myriad of ways. These examples are culled from presentations shared at a meeting hosted by The Communication Initiative on March 29 2011 («Social and Behavioural Change Research Results: Strategic Implications») in Geneva, Switzerland. You may notice that each of the Drum Beat issues included in this series is shorter than normal; our goal is to hone in on just a few illustrations of the most compelling impact data to emerge from the Geneva meeting – with the hope that you will delve deeper as your interests drive you.
In this third presentation, «Reaching Every Child: Communication for Polio Eradication India», Ellyn W. Ogden and Rina Dey (with significant input from Sherine Guirguis) explore the evolution of polio communication, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in north India. As described here, polio communication: is critical for success, improves quality, is cost-effective, increases local capacity, and sparks civil society and community participation, which has many beneficial spin-offs.
For a more complete summary of «Reaching Every Child: Communication for Polio Eradication India» on The CI site, please see: http://www.comminit.com/polio/content/reaching-every-child-communication-polio-eradication-india
For access to the full presentation itself, please see: http://www.comminit.com/files/impact_reaching_every_child_north_india.pdf
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Below please find some introductory remarks by Chris Morry of The Communication Initiative, who was asked to participate in a team that travelled to West Bengal, India, to review the emergency surrounding the only case of polio in India during 2011 and to identify lessons for that experience to improve future emergency responses should other cases appear.
«This polio focused newsletter looks at impact from the perspective of polio communication efforts in Uttar Pradesh. It comes at a moment when India is on the threshold of being polio free for an entire year (the last reported case was in West Bengal on January 13 2011). This is an enormous milestone for India and an important achievement for the global polio programme and it comes in a year that has seen the lowest number of polio cases globally in 10 years.
Yet 2011 also has to be seen in the context of worsening situations in the other three polio endemic countries, ongoing re-established transmission in three African countries and importation of the polio virus into 11 other countries. The International Monitoring Board has noted that Pakistan, Afghanistan, Chad, DR Congo, Kenya and Uganda are all off track for meeting essential milestones towards eradication and the WHO is expected to declare polio a global public health emergency early in 2012.
This year begins with much hanging in the balance. Success in India and particularly in areas like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where some of the greatest challenges have been faced, tells the world polio can be eradicated anywhere given the right combination of programme strategies, strong management and supervision, political will and resources. Whether or not polio will be eradicated depends a great deal on utilising past experience to inform and underpin revitalised efforts. The experiences outlined in this Drum Beat on impact offer important lessons about what can be accomplished in extremely challenging circumstances and may provide some answers and inspiration for the global polio programme in this most critical of years.»
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BACKGROUND: COMMUNICATION FOR POLIO ERADICATION IN INDIA
From 2003-2006, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and CORE set up a system whereby community mobilisation coordinators (CMCs) were deployed based on epidemiological and operational criteria to ensure that polio communication reached communities most at risk. This involved training community mobilisers in interpersonal communication (IPC) skills to carry out both one-on-one interactions and group meetings.
EVIDENCE OF INFLUENCE
* The percentage of parents in UP who recalled social communication public service announcements (PSAs), August 2006, was 51% for polio (compared to 20% who recalled general immunisation PSAs, 20% who recalled HIV/AIDS PSAs, 16% who recalled family planning PSAs, 5% who recalled general health PSAs, 5% who recalled education/literacy PSAs, and so on). [See slide #23]
* CMC areas reported higher booth coverage as compared to non-CMC areas (Jan 2005-Feb 2006). [See slide #24]
* There were fewer missed children in CMC areas (in UP, Feb 2005-July 2006). [See slide #25]
REACHING THE UNDERSERVED
In 2006, the underserved strategy began with the deployment of underserved coordinators to: foster intensive engagement with Muslim leaders in priority districts in UP, Bihar, and West Bengal; identify local influencers, students, and Imams who can work with the teams to influence family decisions; secure positive fatwas other locally developed messages; and create local information, education, and communication (IEC) materials.
* Evidence of impact: 9 million people were exposed to polio messages during religious congregations in 2010, compared to 5 million in 2009.
EXPANDING THE STRATEGY AND IMPACT
In response to data indicating that Wild Polio Virus (WPV) in the UP was up in 2009 (with 75% of cases below 2 years of age), CMCs began visiting each pregnant woman followed by congratulation card at birth. CMCs, to this day, still track polio immunisation status of children under the age of 5. They use mapping and registers, and also provide the immunisation status of each child to vaccination teams.
* Slides 40-46 show graphs illustrating the impact of social mobilisation, year by year.
2010 saw a revised communication package. Posters/banners were used for more than date announcements; they were used as a conduit for behaviour change messages (e.g., give your child the oral polio vaccine (OPV) every time it is offered until s/he is 5 years old).
* Slide 52 shows the main sources of information on Polio from a 2010 knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) survey; one finding was that 50% of people reported seeing polio posters or banners prior to the immunisation round.
Acknowledging the need to proactively engage the media with positive news, the polio programme in north India has sensitised over 400 journalists on polio messages in UP and Bihar, trained 100 TV and radio producers and broadcasters across India, and developed a media kit.
RESULTS
Bihar and UP have interrupted transmission of both WPV1 and WPV3 and maintain a 107 block plan to ensure that the most vulnerable areas continue to be polio free. The communication package for the 107 blocks focuses on establishing links between polio immunisation and related actions that caregivers can take to further protect their children, such as breastfeeding and handwashing.
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Please also see The CI’s Polio theme site: http://www.comminit.com/polio/
A few recent postings:
Pediatricians Decry in-flight Vaccine-questioning Ad on Delta
http://www.comminit.com/polio/content/pediatricians-decry-flight-vaccine-questioning-ad-delta
Two-time F1 World Champion and UNICEF Ambassador Fernando Alonso Appeals for a Polio-Free India, Visits Kids in Delhi Hospital
http://www.comminit.com/polio/content/two-time-f1-world-champion-and-unicef-ambassador-fernando-alonso-appeals-polio-free-indi
Polio Communications Quarterly Update
http://www.comminit.com/polio/content/polio-communications-quarterly-update
Contact us at drumbeat@comminit.com to submit your polio-related communication for development information.
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Please subscribe to our e-magazine «DB CLICK: Immunisation, Vaccines, and Polio»! It is designed for people seeking to address immunisation, vaccines, and polio and development issues and opportunities. This newsletter updates you on recent immunisation, vaccines, polio and development initiatives including programme activities, awards, evaluation and research results, networks, books, other materials, planning ideas, change theories and other information recently placed on The Communication Initiative website. If you would like to subscribe to the DB Click: Immunisation, Vaccines, and Polio and The Drum Beat, please send an email to drumbeat@comminit.comrequesting to «subscribe: I,V,P».
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For a more complete summary of «Reaching Every Child» on The CI site, please see:http://www.comminit.com/polio/content/reaching-every-child-communication-polio-eradication-india
To access the full presentation directly, please see: http://www.comminit.com/files/impact_reaching_every_child_north_india.pdf
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This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Kier Olsen DeVries.
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The Drum Beat is the email and web network of The Communication Initiative Partnership – ANDI, BBC Media Action, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Calandria, CIDA, Citurnas ldta., DFID, FAO, Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (FNPI), Ford Foundation, Heartlines, Imaginario, Inter-American Development Bank, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs, MISA, Ohio University, Oxfam Novib, PAHO, The Panos Institute, The Rockefeller Foundation, SAfAIDS, Sesame Workshop, Soul City, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, USAID, World Health Organization (WHO), W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Chair of the Partners Group: Garth Japhet, Founder, Soul City garth@heartlines.org.za
Executive Director: Warren Feek wfeek@comminit.com
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