Community Engagement Framework

 

While the main challenges of the polio program are misconceptions and misinformation, rumors resulting-in vaccine refusal, the community engagement activities as part of an overarching communication strategy that seeks to increase vaccine uptake by addressing the absent and missing children, including vaccine refusal. This is achieved by adopting an approach to engage communities, families and caregivers, religious and ethnic leaders, influencers, the media, civil society, as well as local authorities’ representatives.

The focus of community engagement is to ensure every child is vaccinated every time vaccine is given in order to eradicate polio in the country. The overall polio programme communication strategy aims to maintain the number of missed children and refusals under 1%.

 

Key objectives:

·      Increase positive knowledge of vaccine among caregivers and influencers

·      Enhance vaccine and campaigns perceptions among refusal communities

·      Build community trust and accelerate eradication efforts

 

Expected outputs of communication interventions:

·      Reduction of vaccine refusals

·      Increased demand for polio vaccine uptake in the accessible areas of Afghanistan

·      Increased reach in inaccessible areas through relationship building

 

Key elements of the Community Engagement component:

The polio program communication strategy consists of evidence-based communication initiatives, utilizing media engagement, partnerships, advocacy, influencers and community engagement. The activities are designed and tailored according to the needs of each community. For example, the programme engages certain influential groups or personalities to address a specific need within a community.  In this case, the programme implements activities according to the needs and necessities of each community through conducting required surveys and assessments.

 

1.     Immunization and Communication Network:

The Immunization and Communication Network (ICN) consists of 3612 social mobilization workers as of October 2020. They are responsible for conducting house to house visits ahead of the campaigns to ensure families are ready to vaccinate their children. The ICN is also responsible for engaging the community representatives, tracking defaulters, registering newborn for vaccination and referring mothers and children to the health facilities for health services including routine immunization.

 

2.     Health Facility-based education sessions and services:

At the health facility level, qualified midwives and nurses known as Female Mobilizer Vaccinators (FMVs) are deployed in South, East, south-east and West to provide health promotion activities for women as well as provide support to the EPI team in vaccinations.

 

3.     Local Authorities Engagement:

The program works with local area representatives such as Wikili Guzar, Maliks and village elders to strengthen the local authorities’ involvement in addressing vaccine refusal. The polio program conducts regular planning meetings with the mentioned local authorities for action in their communities.

 

4.     Influencers Engagement:

The program engages the religious and social influencers through special meetings, Madrasa support, dissemination of the Fatwa books supporting vaccine and mobilizing the pro-polio leaders to encourage their communities for vaccine.

 

5.     Community Outreach for Messages Dissemination:

This includes community led campaign inaugurations, elderly women discussion groups, engagement the polio survivors in community events and public speaking, hold polio messages drawing competitions at schools, use of loudspeakers for campaign announcement, cars parade and other activities.

 

6.     Medical Professionals and Operators Engagement:

Health workers in areas with refusal areas are trained on health interpersonal communication skills, which also incorporates polio messages. Vaccine oriented seminars are organized at key medical faculties, nursing and midwifery schools partnering with polio programme to engage teachers and students.

 

7.     Dissemination of promotional items:

The programme through ICN distributes polio branded promotional items such as baby-blankets, soap bars and hygiene-kits to the communities, with the aim to build trust and promote vaccine acceptance.