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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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The impact of safer breastfeeding practices on postnatal HIV-1 transmission in Zimbabwe

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Piwoz, E. G., J. H. Humphrey, et al. (2007). "The impact of safer breastfeeding practices on postnatal HIV-1 transmission in Zimbabwe." American Journal of Public Health 97(7): 1249-1254.

Objectives. We assessed the association between exposure to an educational intervention that emphasized safer breastfeeding practices and postnatal HIV transmission among 437 HIV-positive mothers in Zimbabwe, 365 of whom did not know their infection status.

Methods. Mothers were tested for HIV and were encouraged - but not required - to learn their HIV status. Intervention exposure was assessed by a questionnaire, Turnbull methods were used to estimate postnatal HIV transmission, and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were constructed to assess the association between intervention exposure and postnatal HIV transmission.

Results. Cumulative postnatal HIV transmission was 8.2%; each additional intervention contact was associated with a 38% reduction in postnatal HIV transmission. HIV-positive mothers who were exposed to both print and video materials were 79% less likely to infect their infants compared with mothers who had no exposure. These findings were similar for mothers who did not know their HIV status.

Conclusions. The promotion of exclusive breastfeeding has the potential to reduce postnatal HIV transmission among women who do not know their HIV status, and child survival and HIV prevention programs should support this practice.