The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
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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European Immunization Week (EIW)

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Each year since 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) has dedicated one week in April to raising awareness about the importance of immunisation as a public health strategy in Europe. The goals of European Immunization Week (EIW) are: to raise public awareness and highlight the benefits of immunisation; to support national immunisation systems; and to provide a framework for mobilising public and political support for efforts to protect the public through universal childhood immunisation. The European initiative coincides each year with World Immunization Week, led by WHO headquarters.
Communication Strategies
EIW draws on a variety of in-person and virtual channels to share information and generate support for vaccination among policymakers, health workers, and, especially, parents. The initiative is supported by the WHO Regional Office for Europe but carried by activities in all Member States of the Region.
In 2015, the European Region celebrated the initiative's 10th anniversary. With the new European Vaccine Action Plan (EVAP) in place, regional elimination of measles and rubella in sight, and the global eradication of polio entering its final stages, EIW organisers challenged every country in the European Region to stay on course or accelerate efforts to meet its immunisation commitments. The focus of EIW 2015 was, therefore, on maintaining "Commitment to immunization - at political, professional and personal levels'".
At the regional level, WHO supported country efforts through:
  • an animated video;
  • a dedicated website with immunisation stories, fact sheets, infographics on measles and rubella, and EIW merchandise templates in 4 languages;
  • a campaign forum, where stakeholders can share experiences and ideas on using the initiative to promote immunisation in their national contexts;
  • promotion on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and BKontakte; and
  • launch of an immunisation advocacy library, containing tools for programme managers and other stakeholders to support their efforts to advocate for prioritisation of immunisation in political agendas and public health budgets.
In 2015, EIW was utilised by Member States in a variety of ways to support national immunisation programmes:
  • High-level advocacy - e.g., an international conference in Lithuania organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Health Care Committee of the Parliament focused on experiences, future plans, and challenges related to the introduction of new vaccines.
  • Social media to drive public demand for vaccines - e.g., between March 26 and May 11 2015, over 1,900 tweets with the hashtag #EIW2015 were sent or retweeted by over 800 contributors, reaching the accounts of 1.1 million Twitter users. A Twitter chat was conducted in Spain, and text messages about immunisation were sent out nationwide in Albania and Turkmenistan. The Russian Federation's Ministry of Health opened a hotline to answer questions about vaccines, and authorities in Switzerland launched an online quiz to encourage adults to check their measles immunisation status and get vaccinated if needed.
  • Training and seminars to keep health care workers informed and on board - e.g., activities were organised for health professionals in Albania, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Netherlands, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. These focused, for example, on new vaccine introductions and efficacy, identifying immunisation gaps, and capacity building to strengthen communication with parents about immunisation.
  • Videos as an awareness-raising tool - e.g., Belgium launched a campaign called "Measles, no childhood disease!" depicting a fictitious measles sufferer who spoke to the audience through a video posted on YouTube and a Twitter profile.
  • Media to amplify the message - e.g., press conferences were conducted with national and international immunisation experts, with press releases using EIW as a backdrop for stressing the need for continued commitment to immunisation. Expert interviews focused on topics such as vaccine hesitancy, the status of measles and rubella elimination in Europe, and strategies for debunking vaccine-related myths. In Turkmenistan, a competition among journalists for the best article devoted to immunisation was held, and, in Germany, EIW messages were covered by several media, including in sign language. EIW was also featured in national and local radio, television, online, and print news channels.
  • Conferences and seminars to bring together key public and private stakeholders.
The adaptable nature of this campaign proved to be of particular value in 2020, the 15th anniversary of EIW, when many health systems and immunisation delivery services were coping with the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, both regional and national initiatives and materials, including a social media package in many languages and a joint United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)/WHO press release, were launched to promote WHO and national guidance on the continuation of routine immunisation services during the pandemic. The WHO Regional Director for Europe and HRH the Crown Princess of Denmark, Patron of the Regional Office, both made statements encouraging parents to not miss any opportunity to protect their children from preventable diseases, even as health systems were strained by the pandemic.
For further details about a particular EIW approach, click here [PDF] to access a narrative report on the 2017 activities, which focused around the theme #VaccinesWork to protect health throughout life.
Development Issues

Immunisation and Vaccines.

Key Points
According to WHO, despite the wide diversity of health systems in the European Region, national immunisation programmes are generally strong, and routine national vaccination coverage is high. Strong demand for immunisation services has improved the health and wellbeing of infants and children in every country, and progress continues with the introduction of new vaccines to protect more people in more areas from more diseases. However, greater efforts are needed to protect gains as well as to close remaining immunisation gaps. Pockets of vulnerability continue to exist in each country, leading to ongoing spread of preventable diseases.
Of the 11.2 million children born in the European Region in 2013, nearly half a million did not receive the complete 3-dose series of diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus vaccine by the age of 1 year. In 2013, Member States reported 31,685 cases of measles and 39,367 cases of rubella. Circulation of wild poliovirus was detected in 2013, and two cases of polio were reported in 2015.
Partners

"EIW receives strong support from Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Patron of the WHO Regional Office for Europe. She is a strong voice for the importance of immunization and has travelled to various European Member States to help spread the message to protect, immunize and prevent disease."

Sources
Emails from Jeffrey V. Lazarus and Robb Butler to The Communication Initiative on April 22 2009 and November 19 2009, respectively; EIW 2009 website; EIW 2010 website, accessed November 19 2009; Narrative Report: European Immunization Week [PDF], accessed on October 6 2015; email from Catharina de Kat-Reynen to The Communication Initiative on November 10 2015; Global Immunization News (GIN), June 2017 [PDF]; and GIN, May 2020 [PDF].
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