Celebrities Push Visibility, Advocate with Community Leaders

This article addresses the issue of fatigue in the polio programme in India and the positive effect of engaging celebrities to promote the programme. It observes that a robust media environment leads to a universal understanding of the task of eradicating polio and high levels of motivation among field workers, as well as the media and community leaders. This is the conclusion of assessments and monitoring by the Communication Technical Advisory Group (TAG), among other evaluating organisations. Film personalities from India's film industry "Bollywood" and sports personalities, particularly popular cricketeers, have helped garner and consolidate the support of community leaders during rounds of National Immunisation Days (NIDS).


Film personality Faroogue Shaikh has been supporting the programmes of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh by engaging leaders and visiting areas of high vaccine refusal. He met with nearly a hundred Muslim leaders in November 2007 through the Islamic Centre of India and programme partners. He participated in immunising children at the polio booth and engaged journalists from Hindi and Urdu media and a cross-section of the Uttar Pradesh media. The impact of his visit, measured in media story quantity, was an increase of 22 stories specifically about Shaikh's visit and an overall increase of 53 stories from October to November.


A series of games between Indian and Pakistani cricketeers was found to benefit the polio erradication initiative through publicity. In New Delhi, Indian and rival Pakistani cricketeers extended the popularity of the 2003 "Bowl Out" campaign by immunising children on the eve of the November 2007 sub national immunisation days (SNID). Cricketeers voiced their views on the urgency of polio eradication. The event was coordinated by Rotary International's India Polio Plus committee chairman who arranged for the presentation of 3 signed bats to chief ministers of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and the Health Minister of India.