TANZANIA RED CROSS
SOCIETY
TRCS EXPERIENCE ON SOCIAL MOBILIZATION FOR
INTEGRATED MEASLES CAMPAIGN OF 2011
MEASLES & RUBELLA INITIATIVE MEETING
WASHINGTON DC 18-19 SEPT 2012
Presented By Bertha Mlay
Director of Health Services
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INTRODUCTION
 Tanzania Red Cross Society (TRCS) is the leading
humanitarian organization in IMC social mobilization
since 2001 with > 16,000 Volunteers Countrywide.
 Other programs - malaria, HIV/HBC, Blood donation,
Wash/ watsan, First Aid, Reproductive Health & GBV
prevention, Disaster Management, Food security
 Donors/ partners- USAID, CDC, American Red Cross,
Pathfinder, UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, UNHCR,
Spanish Red Cross, ECHO, Korea Red Cross, Red cross
France, Government, Community (List Not exhaustive)
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Measles Cases & RI Coverage in Tanzania 2002-9
7726
8000
94
7000
6000
5000
4000
89
94
91
90
5,378
90
89
91
88
92
90
2986
3000
88
2000
1000
96
790
1140
906
982
670
86
84
0
2002
2003
2004
Measles cases
2005
2006
2007
2008
National Measles Coverage (%)
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2009
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TRCS SOCIAL MOBILIZATION - IMC 2011
 TRCS conducted house to house Social
mobilization in 22 districts covering four
Regions;
Mara, Arusha, Tabora and
Dar es Salaam.
 Supported by American Red Cross and
UNICEF
 TRCS is member of ICC as well as social
mobilization committees- National, regional
&district levels
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criteria for selection of the regions
 Hard to reach areas
 Low acceptance/ Hard to convince
 Not easily accessible
 Low coverage
 High risk areas – reported measles
cases.
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Objectives
 To raise community awareness on IMC
&benefits of its interventions
 To ensure that at least 95% of eligible
children receive measles & polio vaccines
during 2011 IMC
 To raise community awareness on benefits
of routine immunization of U5
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Strategies
 House to house visits - 1 volunteer visited
40 – 60 HH / day
 Registration of eligible children
 distribution of leaflets/ education
communication
 Use of megaphones
 Use of reminder stickers (at the door)
 Use of trained volunteers and local leaders
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Tools/ IEC materials developed
 Registration cards and forms
 Reporting forms
 Reminder cards
 T-shirts and caps with messages
 Leaflets and posters
 M&E tools
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REMINDE STICKER
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Achievements – Measles Coverage
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Measles Coverage – Routine 2011
120
100
103
, 98
92
90
95
76
80
60
40
20
0
BCG
Penta 1 Penta 3 Polio3 Measles
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Challenges
 Late arrival/shortage of vaccines at the
posts
 Change of vaccination posts at the last
minute caused confusion
 Delay in receiving funds
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Lessons learned




Alignment of TRCS SM plan with govt
plans was key for ownership and
avoidance of duplication
Use of megaphones helped to reach the
unreached
Red Cross has a comparative
advantage of reaching the last mile - unreached because of its coverage
Strong partnerships and good
coordination by MOHSW contributed to
the success achieved.
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Lessons learned….
 Acknowledgement and use of volunteers for
multiple interventions –e. g net distribution,
hang up and keep up campaigns boost their
morale and commitment
 Trained staff and volunteers in the regions
are ‘TRCS bank’ – they have knowledge and
experience. We need to keep & maintain
data bank.
 SM as a behavior change activity needs time
and thorough planning:
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Lessons Learned Cont.…
 Using volunteers from the same community
minimizes costs and maximizes familiarity
with parents and caretakers
 Use of volunteer registration list at
immunisation post facilitated identification
and follow up of no show up children
 Enhancement of working relationship with
other measles partners is important.
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Lessons Learned Cont.…
 Community involvement was key to
the success achieved
 Alignment of TRCS SM plans with
government plans at all levels national, regional & district facilitated
ownership and avoidance of duplication.
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WAY Forward
 TRCS to focus on social mobilization
for routine Immunization and not only
campaigns
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FOR INFORMATION
Tanzania is going to introduce new
Vaccines for U5 from January 2013
1. Pneumococcal Vaccine
2. Rota Virus Vaccine
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Thank
You
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