Child rights action with informed and engaged societies

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

Time to read
less than
1 minute
Read so far

The impact of mothers' health education on the prevalence of acute respiratory infections in children

0 comments

Günay, O., A. Oztürk, et al. (1994). "The impact of mothers' health education on the prevalence of acute respiratory infections in children." Turkish Journal of Pediatrics 36(1): 1-5.

Methods: In this study, the effects of educating mothers on acute respiratory infections were investigated in Hacilar district of Kayseri, a province in Central Anatolia. The intervention group included 69 children and the control group 57 children between the ages of 0 and 4 years. The children in both groups were checked for symptoms of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in January 1990 and 1991, before and after intervention. The intervention consisted of 30 minutes of face-to-face education of mothers regarding ARI prevention and treatment. In addition, the numbers of clinic visits by children for acute infections before and after intervention were compared.

Results: The prevalence of acute respiratory infections decreased from 49.3% to 27.5% in the intervention group and from 43.9% to 38.6% in the control group. The decrease in the prevalence of acute respiratory infections in the intervention group differed significantly, from that of the control group. On the other hand, clinic visits by the intervention group for acute respiratory infections increased significantly.