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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.
 
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Communication for Polio Eradication in Niger

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

Date
Summary

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 provided an overview of the epidemiological history in Niger, as well as the country-specific communication strategies and challenges. (This was presented in French, though we have also provided a translation of the full presentation in English below.)

From 2005 to March 2006, 20 cases of WPV were reported in Niger (10 cases in 2005, 10 cases in 2006). During that same period, the country has conducted eight rounds of polio supplementary immunisation activities (SIAs). Niger shares a long common border with Nigeria, another country addressing polio immunisation. The high-risk zones in Niger are known and have been mapped.

The communication environment of Niger includes significant mobility of the population, persistence of residual refusal cases, active involvement of Islamic Women Associations in the sensitisation of parents, inadequate financing of communication activities, weak involvement of health committees during routine vaccination and very low involvement of the private sector and businesses in vaccination activities.

Major challenges for 2006 were to maintain the country in a non-endemic status by reinforcing routine immunisation, improving the quality of polio SIAs, developing communication strategies to address high-risk zones and rendering functional communication structures at the community level.

Click here to download the original full PowerPoint presentation as a PDF file [in French].

Click here to download a translation of the full PowerPoint presentation as a PDF file [in English].