Advocates in ActionThe Hib Initiative and PneumoADIP have collaborated to provide support and training to child health experts from low-income countries to further advocacy efforts towards the prevention of childhood pneumonia. Training workshops have brought together child health experts in order to develop advocacy skills with the objective of creating awareness about the leading causes of childhood pneumonia and mobilizing decision makers and other influentials to identify and implement priority activities to reduce pneumonia mortality. Additionally, a small grants program has further enabled advocates to design and implement advocacy activities to reach target audiences.
The small grants program, made available to participants of the advocacy workshops, has awarded funds to 10 advocates. Activities range from face-to-face meetings with high-level ministry of health officers to informational sessions with pediatric staff at hospitals. Meetings and workshops have been conducted with ministry of health, international NGOs and the medical community to build collaboration across the public and private sectors. The media has provided a channel for creating awareness and informing the general population about the causes, treatment and prevention of childhood pneumonia. The advocacy work has taken form in more innovative and creative ways. Pediatricians were interviewed on two popular television health programs. An e-course on causes and interventions was offered to health professionals through cable television. Newspaper opinion editorials by and interviews with child health experts have been published in local papers. Material—posters and flyers—have been designed to provide “quick facts on pneumonia prevention” to medical staff and their clients, disseminated at hospitals and in grand rounds seminars, material that supports informational sessions conducted for the same audiences. Advocacy activities are highlighted below. FOCUS ON CAMBODIA: an advocacy plan has been designed to increase knowledge and awareness among health professionals, policy makers and donors on the burden of pneumonia, interventions available for reducing deaths, and costs and feasibility for each intervention. Experts will present local data and international experiences on pneumonia prevention at a two-day seminar that will include ministry of health, programme managers and medical professionals. A half-day seminar will be held with local NGOs and funding agencies to reach a common understanding on interventions to how to best support the government toward these goals. FOCUS ON NIGERIA: advocacy activities will take different approaches towards two primary goals: focus on national and state health officials to increase awareness of the leading causes of pneumonia in order to advocate for an increase in health care financing and for the inclusion of new vaccines (Hib and pneumococcal) in the national immunization programme. Child health experts will conduct a seminar for ministry officials and the medical community. The Nigerian press will be invited to cover the event and given the opportunity to conduct interviews with participants of the seminar. Members of the seminar will issue a communiqué that will be hand delivered to the Ministry of Health. Other activities include presentations on pneumonia prevention and control at PANCONF 2009, a well-attended annual international scientific conference of the Pediatric Association of Nigeria. In addition, opinion editorials will be placed in local newspapers to inform a wider audience and to bring attention to the successes of countries in the region on the impact of Hib vaccine. In the press“Pneumonia vaccine offers new hope for Cambodia’s children” newspaper article and video featuring interview with Dr. Niklas Danielsson, The Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia, October 6, 2008 [English] “Pakistan introduces pentavalent vaccine” radio broadcast with quotes from Dr. Anita Zaidi, BBC World Service Health Check, Pakistan, September 29, 2008 [English] “Pneumonia kills 2 million children yearly” newspaper article with quotes from Dr. Adegoke Falade, This Day, Nigeria, August 18, 2008 (English) “Pneumonia – the forgotten top child killer” newspaper article with quotes from Dr. Eric Wobudeya, The New Vision, Uganda, August 17, 2008 (English) “Children of a lesser God” newspaper article on the child mortality rate in Pakistan and interview (page 4) with Dr. Anita Zaidi, Dawn Sci-tech World, Pakistan, July 26, 2008 (English) “Pneumonia: Indonesia’s forgotten child killer” opinion editorial by Dr. Sri Rezeki S. Hadinegoro, The Jakarta Post, July 3, 2008 (English) “We must work to protect children from infectious diseases” opinion editorial by Niklas Danielsson, Chan Theary and Hong Rathmony, Cambodia Daily, June 17, 2008 (English) (Khmer) “Vaccine successful in eliminating deadly disease in Uganda” opinion editorial by Dr. A. G. Falade, Sunday Sun, Nigeria, May 4, 2008 (English) “Hib vaccine: wakeup call to Nigeria” opinion editiorial by Dr. Adegoke Falade, Nigerian Tribune, April 11, 2008 (English) “Towards inhanced vaccination” opinion editorial by Dr. Adegoke Falade, This Day, Nigeria, April 4, 2008 (English)
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Workshops were conducted in Tanzania and Indonesia to bring together a total of 48 child health experts and activists. Participants came from Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe; and from the Asia region from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal and Vietnam. Through group work discussion and presentations participants developed shared visions, customized messages and materials for identified audiences and created action plans in addition to discussing the benefits of enlisting champions and importance of forging strategic partnerships. Through this process of sharpening advocacy skills and providing support for activities, these agents for change are better prepared to plan activities and mobilize others to advocate for pneumonia prevention leading to better sustainability in policy decisions.