Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3), Nigeria

The Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3) worked in Nigeria with USAID support from 2014-2018. Materials from the project.

Family Planning

In 2015, HC3 conducted an assessment on family planning use in Bauchi and Sokoto and found several promising approaches: careful efforts focused on child spacing rather than limiting childbearing; service delivery improvements; and a strong focus on demand-side activities to promote family planning use at the community, family and individual level. HC3 worked with the Federal and State ministries of health and other partners to increase the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) in Bauchi, Sokoto and Ebonyi states.

Building on work done by Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative, the program aimed at addressing the full spectrum of family planning needs in the Demand-Services-Advocacy continuum:

• Demand Generation
• Improving Service Delivery
• Advocacy

In addition to supporting Nigeria in reaching its CPR target, HC3 pretested family planning interventions in the country.

• Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) materials
• Smart client intervention

Malaria Control and Prevention

The HC3 Nigeria Malaria Project, funded by the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), worked with the National and State Malaria Elimination Programs and other partners to develop comprehensive social and behavior change communication (SBCC) programs for malaria prevention and control. Behavioral objectives included increasing uptake of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp), rapid diagnostic tests and artemisinin-based combination therapy.

The project also strengthened the capacity of the National Malaria Elimination Program’s (NMEP’s) Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilisation (ACSM) branch for SBCC leadership. Results from this collaboration included:

• National Malaria Theme Song
• Comprehensive Mass Media
• Focused Interpersonal Communication (IPC) and Referral to Services
• Good Quality Malaria Medicines Campaign
• SBCC Support to PMI LLIN Replacement Campaigns
• Provider Initiatives
• National Malaria ACSM Guidelines

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: October 13, 2020