Presented at: The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) Meeting on Communication for Polio Eradication

This PowerPoint presentation was part of a November 2006 meeting hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) African Regional Office (AFRO) in Zimbabwe. At this meeting, country-specific presentations were made by communication practitioners in 5 countries which have experienced ongoing cases of wild polio virus (WPV) from 2005 to 2006. The objectives of the meeting included the following:

1. To critically review country communication strategies and activities for polio eradication, routine immunisation and integrated expanded programme of immunisation (EPI)-polio action including progress in implementing the
   Yaounde 2005 TAG country recommendations.
2. To develop the technical recommendations for each country which, when implemented, would improve polio and routine communication performance.
3. To develop and propose communication indicators that can be effective in measuring the impact of communication strategies for improved polio eradication and expanded routine immunisation.

This presentation gives an update on the epidemiological status of WPV in Nigeria, as well as an overview of the communication environment and communication strategies currently employed in Nigeria's polio eradication initiative (PEI). Strategic components are discussed with a detailed look at communication results through to September 2006. In conclusion, communication issues and key potential risks are addressed.

The communication environment in Nigeria has seen a number of important changes, including:

• An increase in financial/policy support at state and local government area (LGA) levels
• Reduction to near absence of block rejection by communities
• Communities addressing their own challenges, with the help of increasing support from traditional and religious leaders
• Sustained national commitment and expanding inter-sectoral collaboration

A discussion of the core platforms for Nigeria's communication strategy followed, which included:

• Community dialogue for empowerment and ownership
• Advocacy involving policy makers and key influential participants
• Increased participation of traditional and religious leaders
• Increased involvement of community-based organisations (CBOs), traditional and mass media
• Participatory community planning and research

The communication objectives for high-risk states for 2006 included: an 80% compliance rate of parents presenting their children for immunisation during immunisation plus days (IPDs); a reduction in zero-dose children to 10% or less; increasing routine immunisation (RI) coverage to at least 65%.

This presentation also gave an extensive discussion of communication results in Nigeria, with a focus on community and local mobilisation and media involvement. These were illustrated by an analysis of February 2006 data collected in Kano state.

The key communication issues identified in this presentation are as follows:

1. Missed children still above 10% in selective LGAs in the 6 highest risk (HR) States
2. Passive non-compliance
3. Zero dose children
4. Inadequate political support from State and LGA leadership
5. Weak capacity of many Health Educators/Ward Focal Persons for communication activities

Along with these issues, potential risks for further communication efforts were discussed, including: uncertainty of funding to sustain the current initiative; population fatigue even with IPDs; new articles or publications questioning the goal of eradication; and diversion of attention due to political elections.

According to this presentation, Nigeria has made progress on the majority of the eight stated 2005 TAG Panel recommendations. Most notably, the team has defined measurable objectives and performance indicators and established inter-agency coordinating committees for immunisation (ICCs) in five out of the six high-incidence states.

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