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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Strengthening evidence-based planning of integrated health service delivery through local measures of health intervention delivery times

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Wallace, A., T. Ryman, et al. (2012). "Strengthening evidence- based planning of integrated health service delivery through local measures of health intervention delivery times." Journal of Infectious Diseases 205(SUPPL. 1): S40-S48.

Background: Immunization services in developing countries are increasingly used as platforms for delivery of other health interventions. A challenge for scaling up interventions on existing platforms is insufficient resources allocated to the integrated platform with the risk of overburdening a health worker. Determining the length of time to deliver priority interventions can be useful information in planning integrated services and mitigating this risk. We designed and tested a methodology for collecting the time needed to deliver selected interventions. 

Methodology: At 18 health facilities in Mali, Ethiopia, and Cameroon, we observed delivery of 11 maternal and child health interventions to determine delivery times. We interviewed health workers to estimate self-reported delivery times.

Results: Based on observations, vitamin A supplementation (median, 2:00 minutes per child) and vaccinations (median, 2:22 minutes) took the least amount of time to deliver, whereas human immunodeficiency virus counseling and testing and sick infant treatment interventions were among the longest to deliver. Health worker-reported times to deliver interventions were consistently higher than observed times.

Conclusions: Using locally-obtained data can be useful to step for planners to determine how best to use existing platforms for delivering new interventions, particularly since these interventions may require substantially more time to deliver compared to immunizations. © 2012 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.