UNICEF Uses Text Messages to Spread the Word about Polio in Zambia

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), teaming with two private mobile phone service providers, is sending text messages to millions of Zambians as part of a new initiative to harness mobile technology in the fight to prevent polio. The campaign at the centre of Zambia’s Child Health Week activities is part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a partnership spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the United States Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, and UNICEF.

UNICEF has joined forces with the Zambian Health Ministry and two mobile phone companies, Zain and Mobile Telephone Networks (MTN), to encourage parents to bring their children under the age of five to the nearest healthcare centre for free polio vaccinations. The short message service (SMS) campaign takes place during the prevention campaign against polio in 28 districts bordering Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). “Your child can be healthier! Take your children under age five to the nearest health centre for free vaccinations from 20-25 July,” is the message Zambian mobile phone users will read, according to a UNICEF news release.