Social Mobilization - Polio cases
During 2002-03 entire northern India was ravaged by the Polio Virus. This was the greatest threat to the children particularly up to 19 months from birth. Almost all the cases were concentrated in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. No democracies in the world have undertaken a public health initiative as monumental as India’s Pulse Polio Immunization in its resolve to wipe out a childhood disease: poliomyelitis.
Few have confronted the enormity of challenges of synchronizing the actions of a huge populace around a single mission: immunizing as many as 165 million young children on a single day. The Biggest threat to the success of the Polio Campaign was motivation among the service providers and confusion among under-served communities regarding the veracities the Polio Vaccine. Uddeshya Bharti decided to assist the Govt. Of Bihar and other stake holders through their social mobilization efforts to galvanize the communities, resisting the vaccine, to accept and own the campaign.
At request of the Polio unit head of Unicef Bihar the mobilization support to the campaign was provided in the selected areas of Buxar, Begusarai and Patna districts. The three prone strategy was adopted. (1) Awareness generation through rallies, advocacy with socio religious opinion leaders, mass meeting and counselling of the identified resistant family. From October 2002 NID to December 2007 intense mobilization support was provided by the Organisation in Danapur Block of Patna District, Begusarai and Nema Chandpura Blocks of Begusarai District and Buxar and Simri Blocks of the Buxar District.
The activity which was held by all the partners was mobilizing the community and religious leaders of under served communities. Uddeshya Bharti proved the crucial to the campaign in the selected areas as it was overwhelmingly supported by the Panchayat Raj Members (PRI). The entire resources for the on-going activity were generated through the contribution of Executive Committee Members and a few individual donors.
