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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.
 
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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Is this the year?

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Hi and thanks for indicating, when you joined The Communication Initiative Network, that your work focuses on polio or that you have a substantial interest in polio developments. Below is the recent polio case data for 2016 with comparisons to 2015. Two questions for your comment please from your context, perspective and analysis: How confident are you that 2016 will be the year that polio is eradicated; and, What is your assessment of the role that communication has played in gettng us so near to eradication? Data follows. Thanks for joining this dialogue - Warren 

Poliovirus Weekly Update
30-Mar-2016, World Health Organization
 
New wild poliovirus cases reported in the past week for 2016: 2
New wild poliovirus cases reported in the past week for 2015: 0
Total number of wild poliovirus cases in 2016: 9
Total number of wild poliovirus cases in 2015: 74
 
Total number of cVDPV cases in 2016: 3
Total number of cVDPV cases in 2015: 32
 
Cheers

Warren

Comments

Submitted by Faisal Raja - … on Thu, 04/07/2016 - 00:02 Permalink

Unfortunately I do not see 2016 as the year of total polio eradication from Pakistan due to following reasons: a) The security situation in Pakistan is deeply interwined with polio eradication. The security in Af-Pak region controls the successful polio immunization compaigns in the country. We need to engage all regional actors for complete eradication.Today Polio Team is again attacked in the suburbs of Peshawar. A regional approach is therefore necessary b) The Polio Eradication HQ in Islamabad lacks the necessary wherewithal to cope with the emerging situation in KPK and Baluchistan. Even Sind will become problematic if we fail to micro manage things on ground. The UNICEF experts are facing accessibility issues and the data pertaining to conflict prone areas is sketchy and inaccurate. Therefore I doubt the current Polio eradication forecast in Pakistan. Interestingly in 2006 total cases reported were 28 but it became out of control in the following years. c) We need to link polio compaigns with NADRA data otherwise all efforts will bevone problematic, repetitive and futile. d) Tapping Local Bodies resources to reduce access issues  should be done without loss of further time.