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. 

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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Impact Data - Australian National Tobacco Campaign

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Date

Prepared by the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer under the guidance of the Research and Evaluation sub-committee of the National Expert Advisory Committee on Tobacco (NEACT), Evaluation Volume 2 tracks the effects of Phases Two and Three of the campaign through to the end of 1998.

Practices
The significant reduction in overall prevalence reported at the end of Phase One (November-December 1997) was sustained through the following year. Specifically, an overall reduction of about 1.8% in the estimated adult prevalence of smoking has been observed over the 18 months since the campaign was launched. However, prevalence did not continue to decrease at the same rate as suggested in the first evaluation; there was no further movement of smokers along the quitting continuum upon which the campaign was based. Signs of a slowing down of the key indicators of impact on smoking behaviour are not surprising, organisers say, given the reduced activity in Phase Two.
Access
Among 14-17 year olds, there was almost universal recognition of the campaign 18 months after the campaign began; among this sample, young people found the campaign at least as relevant as their adult counterparts did.

More callers accessed the Quitline when compared with Phase One.
Other Impacts
Overall, the results of the evaluation of Phases Two and Three show that recognition of the campaign remained high and the campaign continued to be perceived as "relevant", "believable", and "thought-provoking".

An economic evaluation estimated that the first six months of the campaign resulted in the potential prevention of 922 premature deaths and the achievement of an additional 3338 person years of life up to the age of 75. It is estimated that the campaign averted $24 million in health expenditure (from a total of $9 million expended by the States and Commonwealth).
Source
The campaign's Quitnow website.