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. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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References - Word of Mouth: Learning from Polio Communication and Community Engagement Initiatives

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1 World Health Organization (WHO). 2018. Polio today: history of polio. Global Polio Eradication Initiative (website). Accessed at: http://polioeradication.org/polio-today/history-of-polio/
2 WHO. 2018. Polio today: polio now—polio this week. Global Polio Eradication Initiative (website). Accessed at: http://polioeradication.org/polio-today/polio-now/this week
3 Press Trust of India, Islamabad. 2017. Polio worker shot dead in Pakistan, over 100 killed since December 2012. Hindustan Times. Accessed at: https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/polio-worker-shot-dead-in-pak…
4 Malik S. 2012. Newsline: In Pakistan, religious leaders help change misconceptions about the polio vaccine. UNICEF (website). Accessed at: https://www.unicef.org/health/pakistan_62246.html
5 Abimbola S, Malik AU, Mansoor GF. 2013. The final push for polio eradication: addressing the challenge of violence in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria. PLoS Medicine. Oct;10(10):e1001529. Accessed at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3792994/
6 UNICEF. 2013. Eradicating Polio: Working with Religious Leaders to Enhance Community Ownership. Accessed at: http://www.iple.in/files/ckuploads/files/Polio%20eradication%20in%20UP%…
7 McArthur-Lloyd A, McKenzie A, Findley SE, Green C, Adamu F. 2016. Community engagement, routine immunization, and the polio legacy in northern Nigeria. Global Health Communication. 2(1). Accessed at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23762004.2016.1205887
8 WHO. 2018. Financing: donors—historical contributions, 1985–2019. Global Polio Eradication Initiative (website). Accessed at: http://polioeradication.org/financing/donors/historical-contributions/
9 WHO. 2018. Financing: financial needs—investment case. Global Polio Eradication Initiative (website). Accessed at: http://polioeradication.org/financing/financial-needs/investment-case/
10 Taylor S, Khan M, Muhammad A, Akpala O et al. 2017 Understanding vaccine hesitancy in polio eradication in northern Nigeria. Vaccine. 35(47):6438–6443. Accessed at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X17313282?via…
11 Marfani F. 2012. The fight against polio: health communication lessons from India’s success. Social Change Exchange: News and Views (website). Accessed at: http://socialchange.ogilvypr.com/the-fight-against-polio-health-communi…
12 Postovoitova A. 2017. Social media initiative in Ukraine: analysis of online conversations on polio, vaccination, and routine immunization. The Polio Network (website). Accessed at: http://www.comminit.com/polio/content/social-media-initiative-ukraine-a…
13 Taylor et al. 2017, ibid.
14 Taylor et al. 2017, ibid.
15 Postovoitova A. 2017, ibid.
16 Fondation Pierre Fabre. Auto-visual AFP detection and reporting (Avadar). Global South Ehealth Observatory (website). Accessed at: https://www.odess.io/initiative-detail/auto-visual-afp-detection-and-re…
17 Wikipedia Foundation, Inc. 2018. Geotagging. Wikipedia: The Free Online Dictionary (website). Accessed at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geotagging
18 http://coregroup.secure.nonprofitsoapbox.com/storage/documents/Poliorep…
19 Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). 2010. Global polio communications indicators. The Polio Network (website). Accessed at: http://comminit.com/polio/content/global-polio-communications-indicators
20 UNICEF. Polio Communication Indicators: Reflections from Polio Communication TAG/Review Process (presentation). Accessed at: www.unicef.org/wcaro/WCARO_ProgCom-TFI-15-Polio_Communication_Indicator…
21 Waisbor S, Shimp L, Ogden EW, Morry C. 2010. Communication for polio eradication: improving the quality of communication programming through real time monitoring and evaluation. Journal of Health Communication. 15(Suppl 1):9–24. Accessed at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10810731003695375
22 Taylor et al. 2017, ibid.
23 Weiss WM, Rahman MH, Solomon R, Singh V, Ward D. 2011. Outcomes of polio eradication activities in Uttar Pradesh, India: the Social Mobilization Network (SM Net) and Core Group Polio Project (CGPP). BMC Infectious Diseases. 11:117. Accessed at: https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2334-11-117
24 www.comminit.com/polio/search/apachesolr_search?filters=tid%3A292%20tid…%
3A3955%20tid%3A313%20
25 www.comminit.com/files/finaltowardsmoreeffectivecommunicationreviews-1…
26 Barau I, Zubairu M, Mwanza MN, Seaman VY. 2014. Improving polio vaccination coverage in Nigeria through the use of geographic information system technology. Journal of Infectious Diseases. 210(Suppl_1): S102–S110. Accessed at: http://www.academic.oup.com/jid/article/210/suppl_1/S102/2194326
27 CORE Group. The CORE Group secretariat model. CORE Group: Advancing Community Health Worldwide (website). Accessed at: http://coregroup.secure.nonprofitsoapbox.com/component/content/article/…-
28 Expenditure reports from 2013–2016:
2013: http://polioeradication.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2013expenditure…
2014: http://polioeradication.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Expenditures2014…
2015: http://polioeradication.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Expenditures2015…
2016: http://polioeradication.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/GPEI_2016_Expend…
29 2017 approved GPEI budget:
http://polioeradication.org/financing/financial-needs/financial-resourc…
2018 approved GPEI budget:
http://polioeradication.org/financing/financial-needs/financial-resourc…

Editor's note: Above is an excerpt from the July 2018 paper "Word of Mouth: Learning from Polio Communication and Community Engagement Initiatives - Insights and Ideas to Accelerate Action on Other Development Issues", from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP). Click here to return to the Table of Contents.

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This paper is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of the Cooperative Agreement AID-OAA-A-14-00028. The contents are the responsibility of the Maternal and Child Survival Program and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

The Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) is a global USAID initiative to introduce and support high-impact health interventions in 25 priority countries to help prevent child and maternal deaths. MCSP supports programming in maternal, newborn, and child health, immunization, family planning and reproductive health, nutrition, health systems strengthening, water/sanitation/hygiene, malaria, prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and pediatric HIV care and treatment. MCSP will tackle these issues through approaches that also focus on household and community mobilization, gender integration, and digital health, among others.

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Image credit: Chris Morry