Health Communication Component of the USAID-funded Maternal and Child Health Program
Center, along with Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs as lead, Mercy Corps and Rural Support Programmes Network, implemented the Health Communication Component (HCC) in focus districts of Sindh, Pakistan. The HCC was a six-year, $24.5 million initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It was one of the five components of a larger Maternal and Child Health Program implemented in Sindh province.
The HCC envisioned a Pakistan where individuals, families and communities advocate for their own health, practice positive health behaviours and engage with a responsive health care system. The Component played a pivotal role in bringing social change and improving healthier behaviours in Sindh for improving mother and child health outcomes and reducing maternal and child mortality. The Component worked to create enabling environments for change, bolstered social networks and empowered community members with a sense of self-efficacy. Activities included social and behaviour change (SBCC) interventions, such as designing and developing an aspirational health communication campaigns and an effective package of SBC interventions at the individual and household levels; advocating for more investment in and coordination of behavioral programming; and, strengthening the capacity of local agencies to implement SBC activities.
Center provided technical assistance to the other Components of the MCH Program as well as consortium partners within the HCC in implementation of social and behaviour change interventions. In specific, Center provided design and implementation support to CCP in implementation of an inspirational multimedia campaign titled "Bright Stars." Center provided broadcasting support to all mass media content produced under the HCC. At the community level, Center supported mass media messaging with locally available and viable channels through mobilisation and outreach activities. In partnership with faith and community-based actors, Center improved health seeking behaviour and male participation towards women and child health through a range of engagement activities. Center also developed, piloted and prepared a scale-up strategy of an innovative Community Dialogue Tool for bringing transformational change and challenging harmful norms and cultural practices impeding improvement in the health status. Center also designed and implemented a Bright Star Journalists' Initiative under which skills on health journalism to district-based journalists were imparted in partnership with local press clubs. Center also designed and implemented the Gender and Social Inclusion Strategy for the MCH Program. Center designed and implemented a Private Sector Engagement Strategy for Improving Health Status in Sindh province.
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| The song on the central theme |
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| Television commercial on the Lady Health Workers program" |
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| A television commercial on informed contraceptive choice |
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| 360 Degree Media Report |
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| Health Journalism Tutorials |
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| Compendium of Sermons on Mother and Child Health |
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Faisal Khalil
fkhalil@ccp-pakistan.org.pk