Partnerships in Action An Integrated Approach to Combining a Measles Campaign with a Bed Net, Vitamin A and Mebendazole Campaign

Campaign Summary

In 2002, Ghana became the first African country to pilot a programme demonstrating the safety and feasibility of integrating free ITN distribution with a mass measles vaccination campaign. Building on Ghana’s success in achieving high coverage in a cost-effective way, the ARC and its partners implemented a larger scale effort in Zambia in 2003. This effort became the first Zambian public health campaign to cover four important interventions simultaneously: vitamin A, mebendazole, measles vaccination, and ITN distribution, in five high-priority districts.

In carrying out the integrated measles/ITN campaign, the ARC made a significant contribution to Zambian national efforts to reduce the burden of childhood preventable diseases. The campaign also serves a model for public health partnership. The ZRCS played a lead role in social mobilisation and community education, while other partners worked in close collaboration with the MoH. The IFRC provided some 90,000 ITNs for the campaign; ZRCS volunteers distributed 23,000 of these nets in Kaputa, NetMark distributed 15,000 nets in Kalulushi district, and the MoH and UNICEF distributed all remaining nets.

Red Cross volunteers worked closely with national and local health personnel to ensure consistency among social mobilisation messages and to reach remote areas. Volunteers sensitised mothers and caregivers, registered all eligible children in households, distributed ITNs, and followed up with those children who did not appear for their measles vaccination. A total of 1,800 Red Cross volunteers supported campaign activities before, during, and after the campaign.

As a result of this campaign, Zambia proved that a large-scale, integrated effort to achieve high coverage for measles and ITN distribution can be successful while keeping costs low. PDAs, accompanied by appropriate training, proved to be an effective tool for rapid and high-quality field data collection. Lessons learned in Zambia will now be taken to Togo, where a nationwide integrated measles vaccination and ITN distribution campaign is planned for December 2004. When NGOs such as the ARC and the IFRC use disaster response models to address silent, everyday African emergencies, they can influence and improve overall goals for equitable health. The system will work if:

• Communities are informed about and participate in meeting local health
  needs;
• Volunteers agree to participate in ongoing community health activities;
• Local partners (e.g., health centers, church groups, women’s associations)
  are available to work with volunteers in their own communities; and
• Supervisors, coordinators, and coaches are available and willing to be
  active participants on the team.