POLIO - Social Shakes

Below is part of an overall paper called "SOCIAL SHAKES - rethinking the core principles for principled and effective development action" - the full Table of Contents is here.

POLIO

In 2001 and 2002, people and communities in some of the economically poorest parts of the world essentially defeated a billion-dollar-a-year health programme that had been seeking their "cooperation" to eradicate a major health issue. Those people and communities had only one strategy available - communication. They organised their own "anti-vaccination" movement. It was remarkably successful from their frame of reference. And it was terrible for health. In some key places for polio eradication (for example, northern Nigeria and northern India), polio incidence rates began to rise after years of falling. Sometimes there were dramatic increases. Local people in northern Nigeria and northern India had provided a huge headache (tsunami-sized headache) for some of the world's most powerful health agencies, such as UNICEF and WHO, and for their own governments.

The polio folks had to rethink their overall strategy, including the communication elements that were in place. They had to learn from what had happened to them. And they did.

The new approach to polio communication that emerged can be characterised as "closer to people". In general: Out went the rather detached and remote, simple messaging; out went the use of public service announcements; out went the emphasis on Bollywood and Lagos film and TV stars "pushing" polio vaccinations; out went a mass media focus; and out went a mainly medical perspective.

The most dramatic new development exemplifying the "closer to people" approach was the Social Mobilization Network jointly developed by CORE (a USAID-supported programme) and UNICEF in northern India. The emphasis was on local people; it was organised at the community block level, with tasks that required local engagement (for example, mapping of families and house markings). Its focus was on working with local political representatives, religious figures, and administrators, with localised data sets (for example, missing children) and spaces for local debates (for example, in mosques) on the issues involved in polio eradication.

As we well know now, this local communication approach had a very significant and positive effect in advancing the polio eradication effort. It was a model that came to be adopted in other (then) endemic countries such as Pakistan and Nigeria. Progress continues.

Major success followed.

The next section in this paper is HIV/AIDS.

The previous section in this paper is EBOLA.

Editor's note: Above is an excerpt from Warren Feek's paper "SOCIAL SHAKES - rethinking the core principles for principled and effective development action".

The full table of contents for this paper can be accessed at the bottom of the opening page.