"Yes To Health...No To Polio"

In anticipation of World Polio Day (October 24) 2014, the South African book publisher Books of Hope created "Yes To Health...No To Polio". It is a book, summarised here in its video format, that is accompanied by local celebrity audio recordings aimed to deliver critical health information in an interactive, relevant, and educational way. The book, written in Hausa and English, tells the story through the eyes of a young boy eager to help his family and community fight the polio disease. Easy-to-follow text and culturally relevant illustrations are designed to explain the importance of immunisations and good hygiene. The English version of the video is above; click here to access the Hausa version.

"Yes To Health...No To Polio" is one of a series of "Speaking Books" (see Related Summaries, below) that actually talk to the reader in his or her native language and so are designed to be seen, read, heard, and understood, regardless of reading ability. The goal is to educate local communities about the importance of vaccinating children, maintaining a clean environment, and hand washing to help eradicate polio in Nigeria.

As part of an effort to share this resource, Books for Hope undertook a partnership with the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation to support the Rotary End Polio Now campaign through an outreach project in Abuja, Nigeria - creating 15,000 copies of "Yes To Health...No To Polio" for community-based distribution by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)'s Volunteer Community Mobilisers (VCMs) on World Polio Day. The Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI) Muslim leadership allowed their logo to be applied to the front cover of every 16-page interactive, multilingual book. (By pressing a button to the corresponding illustrated page, users are able to listen to the messages recorded in their own languages.) The Speaking Books are expected to impact 1.5 million households, as each VCM visits, on average, 100 households.

Naureen Naqvi, a Senior Communications for Development Specialist for UNICEF based in Abuja, Nigeria, explains that VCMs are actually nominated by their communities, meaning they are well respected and viewed as leaders. Most of these women are not necessarily educated or literate, but they do have leadership qualities and a desire to help their community. Once selected, each woman undergoes an intensive training where she learns about the disease and how to prevent it with vaccination, how to use the materials, how to lead conversations about with locals, and how to collect data. Naqvi led the effort to get Speaking Books to the VCMs and the communities. She says, "When you're in a community where there's no electricity, no water...and there is a direct need of continuous and consistent effort to engage people in dialogue related to health, a Speaking Book with this kind of information, is a breath of fresh air. Everybody wants a speaking book in the community. It's a very entertaining and interactive tool - especially when they can't read, but they can still relate. The locals enjoy the story and the discussions it leads to - these mobilizers are spreading the messages on how to save lives by key household practices."

Click here to access a summary of a resource, launched and available by video, of an endeavour by Books for Hope on the occasion of World Polio Day 2013 in Pakistan - another of the polio-endemic countries.