Children
Child rights action with informed and engaged societies
Children
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.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Rx for Child Survival Campaign

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Rx for Child Survival is a U.S.-based campaign that seeks to raise awareness of and encourage involvement in activities that will have a positive impact on child health and survival worldwide. Rx for Child Survival is a complementary campaign to the six-hour PBS television series Rx for Survival - A Global Health Challenge.
Communication Strategies

Rx for Child Survival is a campaign that accompanies the Rx for Survival television series. The organisers created the campaign out of the belief that people watching the television series would want to have more information and be inspired to become involved in health programming to help make a difference in the world. In order to focus these potential responses on one issue where individuals could have an impact, the focus of child survival was chosen. To further focus the campaign, five key intervention areas were identified:

  • vaccinations to fight childhood diseases, including measles and tetanus;
  • insecticide-treated netting to stop mosquitoes that carry malaria;
  • Vitamin A and other micronutrients to help fight infection and prevent nutritional deficiencies;
  • oral rehydration packets to help reduce diarrhoea-related illness and deaths; and
  • antibiotics to fight pneumonia and antimalarial drugs.

The strategy was to build an increased awareness around child survival issues and then to use this knowledge and interest to mobilise people to action. The website provides possible ways that people can get involved and encourages individuals to:

  • Donate - CARE and Save the Children have partnered to establish a special fund for Rx for Child Survival for the five interventions noted above for through programmes they have in place in Afghanistan, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone and Vietnam.
  • Speak Out - speak out about child health among friends and neighbours, write to the media, and contact your elected officials or engage in thoughtful public dialogue, and respond to local and national leaders about policies shaping global public health.
  • Give Time - host a screening and discussion with friends, help organise an international festival, hold a raffle, volunteer time. The Rx for Child Survival website also provides tools to help with organising some of these activities. For example, a guide and information sheets for hosting an international festival and hands-on activities designed for individuals and groups of all sizes and ages are linked from the website.
  • Spread the Word - Tell others about the campaign, send an e-postcard found on the project website, or link your own website to the project's.

For more information about the campaign, visit the

Rx for Child Survival website.

Development Issues

Children, Health

Key Points

According to the project website, more than 10 million children under the age of 5 die each year worldwide - a majority from preventable causes - and experts agree that nearly all of them would have had a much better chance of life if they had access to simple, inexpensive health interventions. This campaign aims to focus attention to this issue.