Eyi Megh Eyi Roudro - Bangladesh

With the message "come with your family for health care," this 26-episode television series was developed to create more interest in and awareness about health and family planning services. The aim of Eyi Megh Eyi Roudro ("Now Cloud, Now Sunshine") was to encourage Bangladesh people to take advantage of available health services like the Essential Services Package (ESP) that are provided by these clinics as well as to instill the habit of visiting health services clinics. The TV drama featured many popular performers, revolved around stories in both urban and rural areas, and included "Health Talk" - a segment focusing on health topics that introduced quizes to stimulate reflection among viewers.

2003 evaluation showed:

• Viewers are more aware about the sources of information regarding different diseases and problems among children, and are more aware of the symptoms of pneumonia and polio.
• 43% of viewers stated that they had learned something from the quiz sessions, such as how to take care of pregnant mothers (28%), health-related information (26%), child immunisation (26%), proper care of children (16%), family planning (15%), and Smiling Sun clinics (6%).
• 93% of viewers and 86% of the non-viewers had given the polio vaccine to their children.

Immunization Promotion Activities: Are They Effective in Encouraging Mothers to Immunize Their Children?

This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Mexican National Vaccination Council (CONAVA)'s communication activities for the Second National Health Week (SNHW) in Mexico City. The study sought to determine whether the messages communicated were effective in providing information to mothers and in motivating them to have their children vaccinated.

Key findings (1999):

Overall, 83% were aware of the campaign and 63% were impacted by its messages. The net increase in immunisation between the "aware" and "unaware" groups was 14.8%, though it must be recognised that a relatively large proportion of the "unaware" mothers also took their children for vaccinations, a feature the authors attribute to long-term momentum gained by successive vaccination campaigns.

1995 National Immunisation Days (NIDs) - Bangladesh

The goal of this campaign was to administer 2 doses of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) to all children under the age of 5 years, irrespective of their previous immunisation status. Among the vehicles used to spread the word about the campaign were radio, television, mobile loudspeakers, printed materials (newspapers, posters, and leaflets), community meetings, and house-to-house contact (female field workers and volunteers promoted the NIDs during visits to women's houses).

1997 evaluation showed:

• After NID2 (April 16), 81% of all women interviewed spontaneously mentioned that polio is a vaccine-preventable disease, increasing from 63% before NID1. The increase was more pronounced among slum dwellers, where the awareness rose to 74% (having been 52% before the first NID). By the end of the campaign, there was "a significant and substantial increase in knowledge about the method of administration of OPV for both groups, with a significant difference in increase among slum mothers, as compared to non-slum mothers."
• 88% of children under 5 years received at least one dose of OPV during the NIDs; 67% received 2 stipulated doses, with no significant differences between slum (65%) and non-slum (69%) groups. In addition, 68% of the children contacted during the NIDs were given vitamin A supplementation. In addition, the nutritional surveillance reports indicate a dramatic improvement in vitamin A coverage from 42% to 87% of the children living in the rural areas serving as sentinel sites (NID efforts were combined with other services - a strategy that was found to be very effective).