===
This issue of The Soul Beat looks at summaries of programme experiences, strategic thinking documents, evaluations and materials that can assist in developing polio communication campaigns in Africa.
If you would like your organisation's communication work or research and resource documents to be featured on the Soul Beat Africa website and in The Soul Beat newsletters, please contact the Editor - Anja Venth aventh@comminit.com
To subscribe to The Soul Beat or email Seipati Fountain sfountain@comminit.com
Please note: Access to the complete range of Soul Beat Africa knowledge resources is open to all users, whether registered or not. We do, however, encourage registration. In the future, there will be features that are only available to those who register; for example, in order to tailor the information to you and your needs, registration will be required. Click here to register.
===
1. Integrated Child Health Campaign - Ghana
In November 2006, Ghana's Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service, in collaboration with other key government Ministries and District Assemblies, launched a weeklong campaign to provide 2.1 million long-lasting bednets to all children under 2 years (free of charge). They also provided immunisation against measles and polio, Vitamin A supplementation and de-worming. In addition to alerting parents to the campaign - which involved 1.5 million printed leaflets being distributed to all primary schools - this campaign aimed to draw on the engagement and participation of many individuals and groups in an effort to foster long-term community change. Members of the media were involved in the education campaign, and local journalists attended workshops on their role in averting malaria deaths.
Contact Zorodza Machekanyanga MachekanyangaZ@whoafr.org
OR Allison Hickling ahickling@unicef.org
2. National Immunisation Campaign: Measles, Polio and Vitamin - Mozambique
During the period of August through October 2005, Mozambique's Ministry of Health (MoH), supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), conducted communication and social mobilisation activities as part of a national immunisation effort to wipe out measles and polio, as well as to provide vitamin A supplementation. Children's right to be immunised was a key focus of this campaign, interlinked with the right to play and the right to health. This was communicated in part through the visible involvement of prominent athletes and political/government figures. Activities were designed to raise public awareness of the campaign and to motivate for community participation.
Contact Patrícia Portela de Souza ppsouza@unicef.org
3. Cinéma Numérique Ambulant - Benin, Niger
This mobile cinema aims to use entertainment as a means to educate and provide access to vaccination and birth registration for remote populations. The educational component takes advantage of the fact that people come first and foremost to watch the fiction film; they are also then informed and educated about a variety of topics such as health, HIV/AIDS, schooling, human rights and children's rights. The project maximises the number of people it reaches by focusing its activities on nomadic festivals. A screening has 4 parts: the introduction, including music and video clips; a movie about issues important to the villagers; a dialogue in which villagers discuss topics such as nutrition, access to health care services, payment for health care services, HIV/AIDS prevention, education for girls, child marriage, immunisation (especially for polio), malaria and birth registration; and, after the discussion, the featured fiction film.
Contact Rosalie N'Dah natitingou@c-n-a.org
OR Olivier de Souza ouidah@c-n-a.org
4. Polio Campaign - Ghana, Mozambique, Sierra Leone
In 2004, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) organised an immunisation and vaccine initiative as part of its National Immunization Days (NIDs) in Ghana. As part of this effort, media and religious communication officers gathered in a consultative meeting, in preparation for which a printed toolkit was created. An associated teachers' toolkit was then produced and distributed. This programme used printed information in an effort to increase knowledge and understanding, with the hope that actions to interrupt transmission of the Wild Poliovirus (WPV), search for, and promptly report all cases of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) will follow. UNICEF began by organising a media/religious communication officers consultative meeting to seek the perspectives of these personnel on what types of strategies to undertake to address the problem of polio in Ghana. In preparation for this meeting, organisers compiled a media/communication officers toolkit that contained facts, fliers, FAQ!
s, a video messages and public announcements.
Contact Jane Nyanzi jnyanzi@unicef.org
OR Caroline den Dulk Cdendulk@unicef.org
5. Rehabilitation Through Sport - Angola
This pilot initiative aims to train physiotherapists and sport trainers to use sport activities as a rehabilitative tool with persons with amputations and other physical disabilities in Angola. During training, participants learn how to teach and lead sport-activity sessions, exploring techniques for coaching athletes through their rehabilitation and on the field of play. To facilitate this learning, 10 persons with amputations, one person with polio, and one with “facilitate” (a locomotor condition such as Arthrogryposis, Arthrosis, cerebral palsy, spinal cord conditions, multiple sclerosis, or muscular dystrophy) were selected to participate. In this way, people with disability are empowered by teaching and guiding the "experts", while at the same time learning about opportunities that are available in their country for people with disability and allowing them a chance to interact with peers.
Contact Amy Farkas Amy.farkas@paralympic.org
===
Do you have any communication programmes, projects, events, and publications planned for the new year? Share them with communicators across Africa and the world. Please contact the Editor - Anja Venth aventh@comminit.com
===
6. Lessons Learned from Community Dialogues in Zamfara State
by Nosa Owens-Ibie
This 11-page report aims to provide guidance and define a clearer focus for community dialogues organised to eradicate polio and boost immunisation activities in Zamfara State, based in the North Western Zone of Nigeria. These dialogues are part of the strategy associated with Immunization Plus Days (IPDs), which involve informing and educating caregivers about the importance of child immunisation, as well as encouraging them to access services during immunisation campaigns and promptly report Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) cases and other diseases. Dialogues use existing local structures, such as the grassroots mobilisation promoted by SMAC to promote communication between the immunisation programme and caregivers.
7. An Evaluation of Community-Based Surveillance in the Northern Region of Ghana
by Edmond F. Maes PhD and Susan Zimicki
This 55-page report documents the evaluation of a participatory, community-based surveillance (CBS) system that was implemented in Ghana. Training materials and reporting books (registers) were developed and approximately 3600 volunteers received training based on these resources. The training was designed to ensure that volunteers would be adept at detecting and tallying cases of polio, cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM), guinea worm, measles, infant deaths, pregnancy-related deaths, all other deaths, new births as well as any unusual events.
by Dominique Kondji Kondji
Nine west and central francophone African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Central African Republic - RCA) participated in the Consultative Technical Committee Meeting on communication for poliomyelitis eradication that took place in Yaounde from June 22nd to 24th 2005. Since that time, The Communication Initiative has worked to support the collaboration of and exchange of information between the nine countries in support of implementation of the recommendations from that meeting. This collaborative work was technically conducted through new information and communication technologies and was supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) West and Central Africa Regional Office (WCARO). Of the nine countries concerned, eight manifested both in the follow-up of the communication plans and the implementation of the recommendations. This is a report on progress through to September 2006.
This PowerPoint presentation was part of a June 2007 United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)-hosted meeting dedicated to examining polio communication efforts, in the context of the final global push towards polio eradication. State-specific presentations for Nigeria’s polio-endemic states were given by in-country communication and health practitioners. This presentation gives an overview of the communication environment in Nigeria and the key components and results of the current polio communication strategy. It outlines the supplementary immunisation activity (SIA) calendar and provides an update on recommendations from previous meetings held in Zimbabwe and Cameroon. It concludes with overall observations and issues, and the proposed way forward for 2007.
10. Somali Religious Leaders Join the Fight Against Polio
This article discusses the confirmed advocacy of high-level religious leaders in Somalia for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI). Through workshops held collaboratively by Ministries of Religious Affairs and Health, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the World Health Organization (WHO), religious leaders across the country had a chance to discuss and clarify both religious and scientific concerns, which were augmented by references to the Qur'an, as well as learn about the role of the UN in polio prevention, and the nature of transmission of the disease itself. By the end of the workshops, the religious leaders had pledged their full support, and had agreed to share with their peers at district level the key messages and agreements reached.
11. Nigeria Polio Victims Campaign for Child Immunization
by Sarah Simpson
This article describes how polio victims in Kano, Nigeria, are helping to educate parents about the importance of immunising their children with the polio vaccine. Members of the Polio Victims Trust Association, which consists of people who have been affected by polio, use their disabilities to shock reluctant parents into immunising their children. Members of the association travel to areas where parents have refused vaccination to show them, first-hand, the effects that polio has had on their lives.
12. Angola’s Response to the Circulation of Wild Poliovirus
This PowerPoint presentation was part of a November 2006 meeting hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) African Regional Office (AFRO) in Zimbabwe. This presentation gives an overview of the spread of WPV in Angola in the context of the current socio-political status of the country. Since the introduction of WPV into Angola in 2005, 6 national immunisation days (NIDs) have occurred, as well as one sub-national immunisation day (sub-NID). The results of the sub-NID in March 2006 reflected 1.79 million children under 5 vaccinated, out of a targeted 1.81 children. Provincial and municipal coverage results reflect coverage in over 90% of the population.
by Professor M. Kabir et al.
This study was commissioned by the National Programme on Immunisation (NPI) and looked to examine knowledge, attitude and perceptions regarding vaccination in 11 states in northern Nigeria. Specifically, these parameters included awareness of the protective properties of vaccines, reasons for acceptance of poliomyelitis immunization, reasons for rejection of polio vaccines, and reasons for poor uptake or rejection of immunisation. Based on their findings, investigators concluded that: the majority of respondents were aware of common childhood illnesses and their preventative measures; the attitude of most mothers/caregivers towards immunisation services is positive and relies on the efficacy of the vaccine to protect against disease; there was a poor attitude towards polio immunisation among respondents who believe that it contains anti-fertility agents; decision-making on immunisation of a child lies predominantly on the father; and, if polio vaccination was rejected it was!
because of rumours, frequency of rounds, non-payment of charges, and the priority accorded to it in preference to more severe diseases.
14. Polio Down 80 Percent With Remaining Cases Blamed On Borders
This article describes progress made by the polio eradication initiative in both Niger and Nigeria. Improved communication between Islamic leaders and health workers have allowed the programme to dispel many of the negative rumours surrounding the vaccine, and more Muslim children are vaccinated through alliances with Koranic schools than ever before. The government has also increased community involvement by providing incentives such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets, vitamin A supplements and de-worming medication as part of immunisation drives. The weak link remaining in the programme is the border area shared with Niger. According to Christine Jaulmes of the United Nations Children's Fund in Nigeria, "A lot of people move from one side of the border to the other and so [when there is a vaccination campaign] many children may be missed."
===
Looking for more information on polio communication from around the world? Visit The Communication Initiative theme site
===
Religious and traditional leaders and senior media representatives from across Africa gathered for a three-day forum in Dakar, Senegal in October 2004 to explore how their "unique influence" within hard-to-reach communities can boost immunisation rates and support child survival efforts in Africa. The Forum was co-sponsored by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Religions for Peace in response to faltering rates of immunisation and child survival on the continent. Of the nearly 11 million children under five who die each year around the world, 42 percent are in sub-Saharan Africa. This CD and DVD gather together the official documents of this Forum. It includes the recommendations of three working groups - Immunisation as an Instrument for Peace; Interfaith Working Group on Immunisation and Child Survival; and The Role of the Media in Immunisation and Child Survival – as well as a final Call to Action which was unanimously adopted.
16. Immunization Questions & Answers (Q&A): A Locally-Prepared Job Aid
The Q&A was generated as part of "Community Problem Solving and Strategy Development (CPSSD)" approach developed by the Uganda National EPI (UNEPI) with technical assistance from BASICS II. The Q&A document is intended as a job aid to help district health team communicate accurately about immunization in their communities.
17. The Case for Childhood Immunization
by Mark Kane and Heidi Lasher
In this advocacy document, the Children's Vaccine Program (CVP) looks at the past 50 years of vaccines and immunisations. They examine the lack of vaccines in resource-poor countries and the lack of initiative in fully developed countries - both which can lead to childhood illness, death, and resurgences of old diseases once considered fully eradicated.
===
To view other issues of The Soul Beat newsletter that contain information on polio, see:
The Soul Beat 89 - Protecting Africa's Children
The Soul Beat 54 - MDG #4: Reduction of Child Mortality
The Soul Beat 67 - Polio Communication in Africa
Click here to view archived editions of The Soul Beat Newsletter.
===
Subscribe to The Soul Beat Extra - your e-journal focused in each alternate month on Community Radio or Edutainment. If you would like to receive the Soul Beat Extra on Community Radio or Edutainment please contact Seipati Fountain sfountain@comminit.com
We would love to hear from you: Please send us your comments or email Anja Venth aventh@comminit.com
Click here for more comments on the Soul Beat Africa website
===
The Soul Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
If you have not received the most recent edition of The Soul Beat and you are definitely subscribed, it may be that your mailbox is protected by spam filters. Please add soulbeat@comminit.com to your email address book, spam software whitelist, or mail system whitelist.
Please send material for The Soul Beat to the Editor - Anja Venth aventh@comminit.com
Click here to subscribe.