This update is produced monthly by UNICEF India in consultation with
partners and is circulated by email. Its purpose is to provide stakeholders with a concise update on strategic developments in the communication effort for polio eradication in India, in response to the fast evolving epidemiological situation in the country.

This issue details India’s response to the largest outbreak of polio the country has experienced in four years. Despite significant progress in eradication efforts since 2002, the rapid spread of the virus to polio-free states and neighbouring countries in 2006 is of global concern and a current communication priority.

The communication response to the 2006 outbreak has focused on the following two areas:

• Intense mobilisation in the high-risk states
• Constant engagement with families reluctant to immunise their children over a period of time.

This piece goes on to explain developments in the polio eradication environment in India in 2006, including the following:

1. Strategic disaggregation of X houses (houses with at least one non-vaccinated child under the age of five) - Intensive communication and operational interventions have lead to a reduction in X houses in areas such as western Uttar Pradesh.
2. A steady rise in negative media reporting, which peaked in September.
3. Evolution of the mass media campaign tone to drive home the immensity of the threat of polio within the community at large.

The two highest-risk states in India currently are Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The communication effort in Bihar is described here as featuring a strong partnership with the National Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), and as placing a strong focus on keeping more detailed birth and vaccination records. This state has also made advances in addressing the large migrant population by forming partnerships with the Ministry of Railways and the state Home Department, to ensure that all travelling children are immunised.

A detailed look at the accelerated communication response in Uttar Pradesh (UP) follows. This state was the epicentre of the 2006 outbreak, and experienced resulting activity in the following main areas:

1. Social Mobilisation Network (SMNet) expansion – The network expanded to include 5,140 community mobilisers in 52 districts, with an additional 500 deployed to western UP, and a total of 1,300 community workers.
2. Underserved Strategy - Constantly reinforced through involvement of influencers, positive fatwas and print media.
3. Media Campaign and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Material - Involving a heavy rotation of radio spots and media studies undertaken to assess the impact of these strategies.
4. Celebrity Endorsements - Include field visits and speeches by former athletes, popular scriptwriters and actors.
5. Editorial Media Management - In response to the intense media interest in polio, Rotary conducted a series of media workshops to ensure proactive participation in the campaign. UNICEF also began collaborating with a leading public relations agency to help ensure more accurate reporting about the outbreak.

The next issue of this update will focus on the communication response in Bihar, where the key challenge is to ensure that the considerably mobile population is consistently accessed and all children are immunised.