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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. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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Diarrhea prevention through household-level water disinfection and safe storage in Zambia

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Quick, R. E., A. Kimura, et al. (2002). "Diarrhea prevention through household-level water disinfection and safe storage in Zambia." American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 66(5): 584-589.

Methods: A water quality intervention that consists of water treatment, safe storage, and community education was field tested in Kitwe, Zambia. A total of 166 intervention households were randomly selected from one community and 94 control households from another. Baseline surveys were conducted and the intervention was distributed. Weekly active diarrhea surveillance, biweekly water testing, and a follow-up survey were conducted. Compliance was high in intervention households: 97% reported using disinfectant and 72-95% had measurable chlorine in their water in biweekly testing. The percentage of intervention households storing water safely increased from 41.5% to 89.2%. Stored water in intervention households was significantly less contaminated with Escherichia coli than water in control households (P < 0.001). Diarrheal disease risk for individuals in intervention households was 48% lower than for controls (95% confidence interval = 0.3, 0.9).

Conclusion: This intervention is a useful tool for preventing waterborne diseases in families in developing countries who lack access to potable water.