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

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Use of "Kangaroo Care" to alleviate the intensity of vaccination pain in newborns

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Saeidi, R., Z. Asnaashari, et al. (2011). "Use of "Kangaroo Care" to alleviate the intensity of vaccination pain in newborns." Iranian Journal of Pediatrics 21(1): 99-102.

Objective: It has been demonstrated that newborns feel pain completely. Thus, they should be treated with this in mind. Recent research showed that non-pharmacological interventions such as "Kangaroo Care" may be useful for decreasing pain in newborns. We tried to determine the effect of kangaroo care on the pain intensity of vaccination in healthy newborns.

Methods: This study was a randomized case-control clinical trial. Subjects were 60 healthy fullterm newborns delivered in a general Hospital, in Iran, from March to July 2006. They were randomly assigned to case and control groups. The case group received 30 minutes skin to skin contact, whereas infants in the control group were put, wrapped in a blanket, aside the mothers. Behavioral changes of newborns were evaluated and observed 2 minutes before, during, and 3 minutes after the intervention. All procedures were filmed. An assistant who was blinded to the study, scored behavior changes using Neonatal/Infant Pain Scale. Heart rate and oxygen saturation levels as displayed on the pulse monitor and duration of crying were recorded using a stopwatch.

Findings: Mean pain intensity during the intervention v was significantly lower in the case group (P<0.006). Mean pain intensity 3 minutes after intervention was also significantly lower in the case group (P<0.021). Mean duration of crying was significantly lower in case group as well (P<0.001).

Conclusion: Kangaroo care may be used to decrease pain intensity in newborns undergoing painful procedures.