Tackling Gender imbalance in COVID vaccination, CORE Group Polio Project India’s experience -Manojkumar Choudhary, Dr. Roma Solomon, Jitendra Awale, and Rina Dey

Investment in polio eradication redeemed dividend in COVID-19 pandemic response – Lessons from CORE Group Polio Project India – Jitendra Awale, Dr. Roma Solomon, Manojkumar Choudhary and Rina Dey

Interrupting Transmission of cVDPV2 Using Community Volunteers

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Mothers/Caretakers Towards Childhood Immunization in Ethiopia – Bethelehem Asegedew

Integration of Priority Zoonotic Diseases Surveillance into the Existing Polio Eradication Program in Ethiopia: Opportunities, Success and Challenges   – Muluken Asres Alemu

Health Worker and Caregiver Interaction During Child Vaccination Sessions at Health Facilities in Somali Region of Ethiopia – Tenager Tadesse (MSc), Filimona Bisrat (MD, MPH), Melaku Tsehay (MPH), Samuel Teshome (MD)

Strengthening Expanded Program for Immunization (EPI) through facility-based supportive supervision in pastoralist and hard-to-reach part of Ethiopia: the experience of CORE Group Ethiopia – Tenager Tadesse

Improving access to oral polio vaccine amongst internally displaced persons in conflict affected areas of north east Nigeria  – Samuel Usman

Enhancing the role of Civil Society Organizations in addressing emerging infectious diseases through community-based structures  – Samuel Usman

Assess health worker and caregiver interaction during child vaccination sessions at health facilities in Ethiopia: A qualitative study – Filomona Bisrat

Knowledge, perception and factors affecting health care service providers for reporting adverse events following immunizations in pastoral zone of Ethiopia – Muluken Alemu

Community Action Groups (CAGs) – An Instrument of Community Engagement for Risk Communication, CGPP India

Evaluate Child Immunization Data Quality in Primary Health Care Units in Afar and Somali Region of CGPP/GAVI Project Implementation area, CGPP Ethiopia

Sustaining Immunization Coverage & Equity in COVID-19 Pandemic for the Marginalized Nomadic Pastoralist in the Horn of Africa, CGPP Kenya

Door-to-door child immunization: an acceptable alternate way to continue essential services for vulnerable population of informal settlements in Nairobi, CGPP Kenya

Why Communities Should Be the Focus to Reduce Stigma Attached to COVID-19

Delivering cost-effective outreach vaccination and medical services to nomadic populations in remote areas of Kenya and Somalia – Yusuf Ajack Ibrahim

Improving access to first dose of Oral Polio Vaccine through community volunteers: The CGPP experience  – Samuel Usman

Evaluate child vaccination coverage and dropout rates in pastoral and semi-pastoral regions in Ethiopia – Filimona Bisrat

Using Established Polio Eradication Networks and Systems to identify and Respond to COVID-19 Outbreaks in Northeastern Nigeria – Lee Losey

Improving Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) Early Case Detection and Reporting in Pastoralist and Hard-to-reach part of Ethiopia using CORE Group Ethiopia Community Volunteers – Tenager Tedasse

Leveraging polio infrastructure for COVID-19 mitigation in the informal settlement of Nairobi, Kenya – Ahmed Arale

Rina Dey, Communications Director for CGPP India, explains why listening to communities is key to ending polio.
Read more: Even the smallest question should be answered

Sacks, E.; Schleiff, M., Were, M.; Chowdhury, A.M.; Perry H.B.; (2020)  Communities, universal health coverage and primary health care. Bulletin World Health Organization, 98:773–780

These briefs detail the work that CGPP has been able to accomplish during the COVD-19 pandemic

• Kenya
• Ethiopia
• South Sudan

World Vision and USAID reach over 59,000 people through intensified COVID-19 awareness campaign
Learn more

World Vision, USAID and UNMISS support training of 34 COVID-19 responders in South Sudan
Learn more

This protocol provides guidance to CGP-GHS Project staff on how to ensure the health and safety of community health volunteers (CHVs) and the unintentional spread of COVID-19 in the community. The need to conduct community-based surveillance and health promotion needs to be weighed against the risk of endangering either CHVs or community members while conducting house-to-house surveillance and health education and promotion activities.

Learn more

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (AJTMH) released the publication of a special series of 14 articles chronicling the CORE Group Polio Project’s (CGPP) multiple contributions to improving community health in extremely difficult contexts by working to eradicate polio, improve immunization uptake, promote healthy household behaviors for mothers and children, and increase disease detection.The supplement may be accessed here.  The AJTMH is a peer-reviewed, open-access scientific journal published by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

The supplement addresses the CGPP’s unique model of community engagement and the concrete strategies that have focused largely on high-risk areas with marginalized or hard-to-reach populations where health systems and immunization programs have also been weak, and where transmission of poliovirus has not been stopped or where the risk of recurrent transmission is high, and where resistance to the polio campaign has been encountered.

Learn more

The CGPP is prominently featured in a September 2019 report about sustainability developed by Devex. In the “Results that Last: Expert Insights on Health Project Sustainability” report, the CGPP describes the importance of understanding community dynamics and employing strategic partnerships. CGPP Secretariat Directors also address the use of technology and solutions to socio-economic, security and supply chain factors that affect sustainability.

View the Report

CGPP Kenya and Somalia Secretariat Director Ahmed Arale spoke with Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) host Catherine Achieng’a during the Your Health segment about “Ending Polio for Good.” During the KBC interview aired on September 17, 2019, Mr. Arale addressed strategies and barriers, stressing the critical need for continued robust community-based surveillance and synchronized cross-border campaigns to reach high-risk nomadic pastoralist populations.

View the Video

CGPP-GHSA presented at the “Geographic Perspectives on Infectious Diseases in Humans, Animals, and the Environment” Symposium at Harvard University on June 18th, 2019.

CGPP and GHSA share a goal: effective community based surveillance, and rapid outbreak response. CGPP recognizes that the most valuable resources in detecting an outbreak are the people closest to it. Arming community health workers and mobilizers, along with other local leaders with the information they need to make decisions about when and how to detect, report, and respond is a critical measure in controlling outbreaks before they have a chance to spread. Given the eradication of polio is imminent, CGPP is now taking on a broader mandate and retraining its workforce to include disease threats beyond polio: to include those that are critical to local, national, and global health security.

Leveraging the Polio Legacy for Global Health Security

During the 1970s and 1980s, India was one of the worst among the developing countries affected by polio, with an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 cases annually. On March 27 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared India polio free. This publication documents the key strategies used by the CORE Group Polio Project (CGPP), working alongside the Indian government and other agencies, to contribute to the eradication of polio in India. Influencing Change is a collaborative effort of The Communication Initiative and CGPP.

Influencing Change: Documentation of CORE Group’s Engagement in India’s Polio Eradication Programme

On February 26th, 2019, organizations involved in the global polio eradication effort were invited to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to speak to Congress members and staff. Ellyn Ogden spoke about USAID’s contributions to the global polio eradication initiative including USAID’s work with the CORE Group Polio Project (CGPP).

Congressional Polio Reception summary

Civil society and civil society organizations (CSOs) are a key partner in the Gavi Alliance, playing a crucial role in the achievement of the goal of ensuring that every child is reached with immunization. Since 2011, Gavi has been supporting civil society coordination through the Gavi CSO Constituency. Over the past seven years, these platforms have played a key role in strengthening the voice of civil
society both at country level and globally. As these Promising Practices show, CSOs play an essential and irreplaceable role in the health system.

Civil Society Organization Platforms Contribute to National Immunization Programs: Promising Practices 2012-2018

APHA’s Annual Meeting, “Creating the Healthiest Nation: Health Equity Now,” featured several presentations from CORE Group Polio Project. More information about their presentations can be found below.

Assess Community Based Surveillance: A successful strategy to hunt hidden AFP cases in hard to reach and underserved communities in Ethiopia

Role of religious leaders and knowledge of caretakers on child immunication in hard to reach and pastoralist communities in Ethiopia (Poster) – Legesse Bezabih, Filimona Bisrat, Asrat Asress

Addressing inequity by reaching marginalised groups to improve immunization coverage – Lessons from India Polio Eradication Program for health system strengthening and universal coverage – Jitendra Awale

Power Point Presentation – Jitendra Awale

Immunization service availability and readiness in the hard to reach zones of Ethiopia: Quantitative Study (Poster) – Muluken Asres, Filimona Bisrat

Impact of Plastic Bag for Vaccination Card Retention, Two Semi Pastoralist Regions, Ethiopia (Poster) – Muluken Asres, Filimona Bisrat, Fasil Tessema

Knowledge and Practice of Frontline Health Workers on Immunization Services Provision in Hard to Reach Districts of CORE Group Polio Project Operation Areas in Ethiopia (Poster) – Filimona B. Semunigus; Solomon Zelek

This summary details two key presentations made by the CORE Group Polio Project during the Gavi CSO ConneXions 2018 conference held in Nairobi, Kenya. On September 11, a Donor Transition Advocacy Workshop included a panel discussion on the GPEI Transition with a specific focus on the CGPP focal countries of South Sudan, India and Nigeria. CGPP South Sudan Secretariat Director Anthony Kisanga, CGPP Nigeria Secretariat Director Samuel Usman and CGPP India Communications Director Rina Dey spoke of the impact on vulnerable populations due to the planned reduction of immunization funds from both the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) and GAVI.

Read more here – Polio Transition and Best Practices

CORE Group Polio Project shares key lessons learned in Washington, DC, at the USAID’s Flagship Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Presentations focused on best practices from CGPP’s long history of fighting to eradicate polio, as well as approaches used to reach mobile, refugee, and migrant populations in Kenya and Somalia.

Read more here.

At this year’s CORE Group Global Health Practitioner Conference on June 5 in Bethesda, Maryland, the CORE Group Polio Project Secretariat Directors from South Sudan and Nigeria spoke of their work in protracted conflict situations to reach vulnerable children with polio immunization. To support the global push to eradicate polio and to improve child health, the directors addressed the need to integrate immunization services with nutrition, safe water, good hygiene practices, and other health promotion activities that go beyond simply providing two drops of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV.) CGPP Deputy Director Lee Losey, who served as the first CGPP Secretariat Director in Angola, moderated the concurrent session.

Read the full description of the session.

You can also view the poster presented by CORE Group Polio Project Nigeria on Innovative Approach to Reaching Under-served Children Using Religious Leaders in Polio High Risk Area of Northern Nigeria.

Shifting Norms to Conquer Polio: Male Engagement Strategies for Vaccine Defaulters in India and Nigeria: CGPP has identified country-specific strategies to engage men in vaccination decision making to decrease vaccine non-compliance and to increase coverage of polio vaccine and other routine immunizations.  CGPP India and CGPP Nigeria have employed creative approaches to empower men to become knowledgeable about the importance of the polio vaccine.

More Than a Shave at a Time: A Pilot Initiative to Improve Male Participation in Routine Immunization through Local Barbers in Uttar Pradesh, India: While men were recognized as the decision makers in many households, vaccination messaging was not always reaching them at the same rate as women. To engage men, particularly fathers, CGPP India identified barber shops as a place of congregation for community men to spread the word on the power of immunization.

Placing Effective Communication Activities in Reaching People on the Move in Uttar Pradesh, India: CGPP India introduced multiple strategies to reduce the number of missed children during campaigns among populations on the move in Uttar Pradesh, such as engaging brick kiln owners, shop keepers and landlords; conducting outreach sessions and using pictorial materials.

Credibility of Community Mobilisers as Messenger in Community-Based Vaccine Trials: Community Health Workers in India have mobilized communities for vaccine trials by breaking barriers of mistrust and resistance. Formed by CGPP India, the Uttar Pradesh Social Mobilization Network (UP SM Net) has successfully restored trust and improved vaccination coverage.

Social Norms Affecting Intake of Oral Polio Vaccine Birth Dose in Uttar Pradesh, India: An Exploratory Study Conducted in the Catchment Districts of CGPP India: The role of social norms is key to shaping demand for OPV0, the oral polio vaccine birth dose. CGPP India introduced specific communication efforts to address obstacles to increase birth dose vaccination uptake in Uttar Pradesh.

Strategies to Immunize Children in Conflict Affected Inaccessible Areas: The CGPP has effectively applied multi-pronged approaches to vaccinate children in hard to reach and conflict-affected areas in the Horn of Africa, including Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Ethiopia.  Successful interventions include permanent vaccination posts along borders of conflict zones, tracking of nomadic population movements, cross-border synchronization during immunization rounds and social mapping of border crossing points.

An Equal Shot at a Health: Providing Immunization Services for the Hardest to Reach

All children, regardless of where they live deserve to be vaccinated. This article describes how CORE Group Polio Project works together with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to support the Turkana County Ministry of Health in conducting successful polio vaccination campaigns.

CORE Group Polio Project presented at the 2018 SBCC Summit in Bali, Indonesia in April.

Presentation Links are below.

What Works in Complex Settings? https://coregroup.adobeconnect.com/pomfh0uelmmt/

Necessary Bedfellows: https://coregroup.adobeconnect.com/pa8e2mprurvg/

As the world moves closer to the end of polio, more than 70 child health survival champions shared approaches to transition the best practices of the CORE Group Polio Project (CGPP) to broader health interventions and public health challenges at a workshop:

Reaching Every Child: Sharing approaches to improve child health workshop
September 22, 2017 | Washington, DC

During the workshop, project leaders and workshop participants explored the unique Secretariat Model and other CGPP strategies to reach vulnerable children in insecure, fragile communities.

USAID’s flagship Maternal and Child Survival Program, World Vision, PATH, The Communication Initiative, United Nations Foundation, JSI, CRS and PCI all collaborated with the CORE Group Polio Project (CGPP) to plan the workshop.

Download the workshop report.

Watch a video recording of select sessions from the workshop.

The CORE Group Polio Project (CGPP) organized a plenary session at CORE Group’s Fall 2017 Global Health Practitioner Conference on Wednesday, September 27:

Realities: Coordinated Impact at the Country and Global Level
Ahmed Arale, CORE Group Polio Project (CGPP) Kenya/Somalia; Filimona Bisrat, CGPP Ethiopia; Frank Conlon, CGPP; Anthony Kisanga, CGPP South Sudan; Lee Losey, CGPP; Ellyn Ogden, USAID; Roma Solomon, CGPP India; Samuel Usman, CGPP Nigeria; Leo Ryan, ICF International (Moderator)

The session provided an overview of the lessons learned from the polio eradication project with an emphasis on how they could be of value across a variety of maternal and child health projects. Speakers shared experiences from the past 18 years and how they can be best applied to other health initiatives through discussions of CGPP country initiatives such as the non-traditional consortium and collaborative model, evolution of communication strategy, innovations, and relevance to other infectious diseases.

View a summary report of the session.

Access a recording of the session.