Principle 2

HUMAYRA BINTE ANWAR: Principal 2, that is, humanize our health workers by emphasizing their social and emotional depth. This is an unusual objective for a communication program. So why does it exist? There are several reasons why these goals became a priority for the polio program. In some context, upper class people were refusing polio drops because they felt that lower class polio workers should not be giving vaccines to their children. In Pakistan, lady health workers, like the one shown in the picture, were unfortunately murdered by militants. More than 50 local health workers were murdered. Therefore, humanizing health worker is one way of gaining public support for the program and appreciating for the risk this brave woman were taking.

Even beyond these issues, when health workers who go door-to-door are greeted with kindness and respect, it makes their job much more enjoyable and rewarding, and motivates them as well. But why this violence are taking place? We can see from the survey data shown in the picture that there was a huge trust gap for vaccinations in many places that provoked the community to attack the health workers. So how could health communication help build trust in health workers? What are some strategies that might work here? The best answer would be, you need to be hiring the right people whom the community trusts. Here is an example of a poster for a polio campaign chosen to highlight the health worker.

In some markets, there were also TV spots highlighting the health workers’ commitment. Let’s watch a video regarding the hardworking health workers in India who worked for making the country polio free. So now let’s pause the presentation and just go to the link provided. How does this piece from India, including famous voice of Amitabh Bachchan, humanize the health worker? In the next session, we will talk about how these kinds of ads might fit into a broader communications strategy.