The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Published 24 years ago
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Impact Data - Mass Media and Health Practices Project

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Date
Knowledge Shifts
93% of the mothers surveyed in rural Honduras knew that the programme's radio campaign was promoting Litrosol, the brand name of the locally packaged oral rehydration salts (ORS) used to treat diarrhoea.

Of the mothers sampled in the study, 42% knew that the use of Litrosol prevented dehydration.
Practices
Forty-nine percent of the mothers surveyed had used the ORS Litrosol. Of these women, 94% accurately described the correct mixing volume and 96% knew that the entire package of ORS was to be used in treatment. Sixteen months after the programme's start, 39% of all of the cases of diarrhoea within the prior two weeks among the sampled families had been treated using Litrosol.

Between 1981 and 1982 mortality rates for children under five years of age had decreased from 47.5% to 25%.
Access
After little more than a year of the project's start, 71% of the mothers surveyed in Honduras could recite the radio jingle used to promote the administration of liquids during diarrhoea affliction.
Source
Social Marketing Institute website.