Polio Communication in Nigeria: Interruption and Beyond

This PowerPoint was presented at the end of the Communication Technical Advisory Group (TAG) Meeting held in Nigeria in June 2007. It explains the context, findings, and recommendations of the communication TAG panellists based on field research, presentations, and discussions with national and state representatives. The TAG's intentions were to:

• support improvements and consolidate gains made towards polio eradication in Nigeria over the past two years;
• introduce communication-related recommendations to accelerate and strengthen short-term polio action while supporting the continued development of sustained communication action on polio, routine immunisation, and other primary health care (PHC) needs;
• make strategic recommendations which were backed-up wherever possible with specific examples; and
• make each recommendation as specific and clear as possible while recognising that decisions on whether and how to operationalise recommendations rest with the government, partners, and donors responsible for implementing the polio programme in Nigeria.

The presentation opens with an overview of the 2007 context and opportunities for real progress towards eradication:

• Evidence suggests an epidemiological and operational opportunity in 2007-08 for interruption.
• Case trends show significant reduction over the course of 2006.
• The media environment is vibrant.
• There is significant investment and commitment from federal and state governments and international agencies.
• There is a clear recognition of, and desire for, increased local [state and local government areas (LGA)] ownership to improve effectiveness.

It also notes that these gains have to be consolidated by:

• making maximum use of communication;
• rationalising social mobilisation and communication activities by focusing on high-impact strategies;
• preparing a solid and thorough multi-year communication strategy;
• improving the effectiveness of vaccinator teams and supervisors through training, supervision, and monitoring;
• developing resource mobilisation plans at federal and state levels; and
• keeping in mind that the situation is still fragile, and that Nigeria and other countries have been at this point before only to see cases increase.

Several critical issues were identified, including:

• Missed children/non-compliant households
• Motivation and capacity of vaccinators, supervisors, and monitors
• Ownership at state, LGA, and community levels
• Coordination and supervision amongst all main parties
• Data quality and utilisation for communication.

Twelve recommendations were made; below are summaries of each recommendation.

1. That a multi-year/multi-stakeholder communication strategy aimed at disrupting polio transmission, sustaining polio-free status through certification, and strengthening routine immunisation in Nigeria in the context of PHC be prepared.
2. That the impact of social mobilisation and communication (SM/C) activities be measured in terms of their own outcomes, and correlated with operational (coverage) and epidemiological (circulating virus) data using central indicators.
3. That significant improvements be made to the quantity and quality of communication-related data.
4. That there is a need to strengthen existing monitoring systems and capacities with further training, earlier deployment, and the addition of one or more fully independent agencies to provide periodic reports to the partners in Abuja and conduct a final evaluation.
5. That community dialogues (CDs) be improved and strengthened through greater methodological coherence and focus on local community leadership, agenda setting, and facilitation.
6. That more extensive use be made of social mapping strategies.
7. That vaccinators and supervisors be formally recognised as the front-line communicators for polio, routine immunisation, and other PHC initiatives and that they be supported to be more effective communicators.
8. That data collection be improved so that it is accurately captured, organised, analysed, and submitted upwards or re-submitted downwards in a timely fashion.
9. That there is a need to establish a platform for sharing and critically reviewing the very significant knowledge being generated at LGA, state, and federal levels as well as throughout the full range of partners – so, for example, what is learned in Katsina can be easily accessed by Jigawa.
10. That suitably qualified Nigerian entities – agencies/universities/companies – be contracted (possibly by the Social Mobilisation Working Group) to provide national mass media and communication support and to generate knowledge for use by all partners and states.
11. That the capacity of states to produce information, education, and communication (IEC) materials specific to their needs and based on their communication strategies be increased.
12. That there is a need to consolidate, institutionalise, and further strengthen partnerships with traditional, religious, women's, and youth groups in their role in the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI), routine immunisation, and other PHC initiatives.

Click here to download the full PowerPoint presentation.