Risk Communication and Community Engagement to Address Cholera in Lusaka
Categories: Action Line 2: Evidence-based policy strategy and capacity building, Integrated risks, monitoring, early warning, and GHG emissions tracking, Health systems wide resilience
Country: Zambia
Organizations: The Rockefeller Foundation, Collective Service
The intervention
In early 2024, Zambia experienced one of its worst cholera outbreaks in a decade, exacerbated by El Niño-induced droughts and poor access to clean water. The Ministry of Health, with support from the Collective Service (a partnership between IFRC, UNICEF, and WHO), implemented a Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) strategy to improve response efforts in Lusaka. Through Rapid Qualitative Assessments (RQAs), teams interviewed affected community members to identify barriers to care and misinformation. Findings were compiled into a centralised community feedback mechanism and dashboard, allowing health authorities to adapt interventions in real time and target high-risk areas effectively.
Success factors
The success of the Collective Service hinged upon a flexible and dynamic cholera response and strong coordination between government and partners. When transportation emerged as a barrier to care, the Ministry of Health and UNICEF jointly funded and allocated seven ambulances to transport patients. And when mixed messaging around cholera prevention was found to cause confusion, an infographic on 3Cs for cholera (Clean water, Clean hands, Early care) was developed in multiple languages, and its core messaging was shared through 15 national FM radio stations with an estimated listenership of 10 million nationally.
Recommendations
Governments looking to replicate the outcomes of this programme should identify key barriers to health-seeking behaviours in the context of the country wherein they operate and attempt to address these barriers early in the process. In Lusaka, public health messaging was an essential facet of the success of the programme. Identifying the key public institutions and tools with which knowledge about cholera could be disseminated effectively was key to increasing the uptake of healthcare solutions such as oral rehydration solutions and oral cholera vaccines. This was a vital means through which community deaths were reduced.
Click here to return to the Belém Health Action Library