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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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Securing a Polio-Free World: Video Series

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This video series from the World Health Organization (WHO) explain the steps that are being taken to make sure that, once the wild poliovirus (WPV) has been eradicated from the remaining WPV-endemic countries (Afghanistan and Pakistan), it will never have the opportunity to return. It provides an overview of the global strategy that can serve as a frame for the fight against vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs), which - along with potential leads of the virus from laboratories or vaccine manufacturers - would be the only risks of the virus returning. The videos also address the looming (April 2016) "switch" strategy (from trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV) to bivalent OPV, or bOPV), which needs to be understood to fully grasp the importance of clearing VDPV. (Editor's note: Click here for one explanation of the switch and its implications.)

Following the introductory video (3:05 in length - see below), the series includes:

  • The Polio Vaccines (4:23 in length) - explores how the OPV and the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) work and the different, complementary roles they have to play in delivering a polio-free world.
  • Stopping all Polioviruses (4:50 in length) - provides information about WPVs and vaccine-derived polioviruses, and what needs to be done to stop both strains for good.
  • Phasing Out Oral Polio Vaccines (5:01 in length) - examines the switch from tOPV to bOPV in April 2016 - "the biggest, globally-synchronised project in the history of vaccines" - and why gradually phasing out the OPV is essential to prevent the emergence of circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs) in the future.
  • Building Resilience for the Switch (4:11 in length) - discusses the safety nets being put in place to make sure that the phased withdrawal of the OPV will speed up our journey towards a polio-free world, such as the introduction of the IPV into routine immunisation (RI) programmes.
  • Containing Polioviruses Safely and Securely (4:00 in length) - looks at steps being taken to ensure that laboratories and vaccine manufacturing facilities handle and store polioviruses safely and securely.

Publishers

Publication Date
Languages

English, French.

Source

Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) website, March 4 2016.

PDFLink
Click here to watch the video series in French.