Polio
Polio eradication action with informed and engaged societies
Polio
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Published 19 years ago
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Partnering for the Child

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Partnering for the Child is a project that shows the involvement of the mass media in ensuring that children missed during a national polio immunisation drive are immunised. The initiative, organised by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), reinforced the importance of the mass media as a key partner in promoting immunisation and creating demand for immunisation throughout the country. The television station offered free airtime to display a list of telephone numbers on television so that parents and concerned citizens could call to alert the health authorities of children that were missed during national polio immunisation days.
Communication Strategies

As soon as a call is received regarding a child or area that had been missed by the polio immunization drive, the World Health Organization (WHO) office in the region organised for a response team is sent out to vaccinate the child and any other children missed in the area.

The concept of a phone line is seen as successful as parents or concerned citizens are given an opportunity to call anonymously and the anonymity also gives parents the courage to demand the right of their children to be immunised. The high number of parents, who had rung the numbers displayed on television, were seen as an indicator of the level of concern for ensuring children are protected from polio. Given the high volume of calls, the State Team extended the campaigns by an extra day. One of the people responding to calls was the former Commissioner for Health, Dr. Kola Olaosebikan.

Key Points

NTA hopes to sustain the initiative by collaborating with the State to extend the arrangement to air numbers of key contacts so members of the public could call to report on service delivery at routine immunisation clinics, as well as report cases of acute flaccid paralysis in their communities.

Partners

NTA, USAID, WHO.