National Consultant, Yellow Fever C4D Strategy - UNICEF

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Yellow Fever is an acute, hemorrhagic, viral disease that is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. Infection may result in anywhere from no to severe illness; 20-50% of those with severe illness will die of the disease. There is no known speci?c antiviral therapy, although the disease can be prevented by the “17D” vaccine, which provides immunity for at least 10 years. Every age group is at risk, and vaccination is a crucial weapon to prevent cases and epidemics.

Yellow Fever is endemic in the tropical regions of Africa and South America, where 44 countries (33 in Africa and 11 in South America) are considered to be at risk. Currently, more than 610 million people are considered to be at risk from the disease in Africa.

Between the 1940s and 1960s, there was widespread mass vaccination campaigns in some African countries. This resulted in the near-complete disappearance of Yellow Fever. However, immunization campaigns waned, and a generation of people grew up with no immunity to the disease.  Yellow Fever returned as a major scourge and, as urbanization progressed across Africa, the threat of a major epidemic loomed ever larger.

In 2018, the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and UNICEF launched a sub national campaign aimed to vaccinate 5.3 million people against yellow fever in nine regions in Ghana. The theme for the campaign was “Get vaccinated and be protected against yellow fever” and the main objective of this campaign was to maintain a high population immunity of all persons living in Ghana. The rationale for the campaign was part of a road map for the elimination of yellow fever in Africa by 2060 and since Ghana lay within the yellow fever zone, there was the need to rapidly increase population immunity and to protect susceptible older age groups.

How can you make a difference?

The main purpose of this assignment is to develop a communications strategy on Yellow fever catch-up campaign for the GHS – EPI and HPD as UNICEF support for combatting the resurgence of Yellow Fever through the promotion of a nationwide immunization campaign in 87 Districts. The communication strategy will set the framework for a nationwide SBCC activities including community engagement, social mobilization, advocacy for Yellow Fever immunization catch-up.

Tasks to be completed        

The Communications Consultant will support the development of an evidenced-based communication strategy which will be implemented by the GHS-EPI and HPD in collaboration with UNICEF:

• Conduct a desk review of documents, literature and best practice on Yellow fever outbreaks campaigns in Ghana and other countries.
• Conduct interviews and focus groups around knowledge and perceptions with population  to inform the communication actions.
• Gather inputs and recommendations and engage UNICEF key EPI and HPD partners for the development of the strategy.
• Develop a communication strategy including messages, channels and tools to be used in the campaign.
• Facilitate a validation workshop with the GHS-EPI and HPD key staff as well as relevant stakeholders to input into the strategy.
• Draft a plan to launch and support implementation of the Yellow Fever Catch up campaign including technical support the design, development, pre-testing, production, printing, and dissemination of campaign materials.
• Map key stakeholders of the campaign (community groups, leaders and other partners in the community and civil society) and develop partnerships.
• Incorporate all recommendations and suggestions appropriately and submit 2 hard copies of the communication strategy and an electronic copy sent through email.
• Support the monitoring and evaluation of campaign activities.
• Support the documentation of a case study on the campaign.