Information, Education and Communication (IEC)

IEC is a cost-effective approach to mobilize communities into making life-saving behavioral changes in their daily health and sanitation practices. IEC’s has been an essential component in facilitating:

· the health knowledge, attitude and practice about personal and environmental hygiene, common illnesses and their causes;

· Behavioral Change Communication (BCC) and

· promote political and community support for preventive and promotive health services by educating and influencing planners, policy makers, managers, women groups and potential collaborators.

The IEC has been instrumental in developing training programmes and manuals for Health Extension Workers. The most recent development in this area is the implementation of guidelines for HEWs on Community Conversation, a social mobilization tool with proven success to engage community members in becoming frontline agents for behavioral change. At its nascent stage, Community Conversation was particularly successful in minimizing discrimination and stigma of HIV/AIDS.

IEC activities at the federal level have accelerated considerably particularly in the area of print and audio-visual media. The Health Extension Education Center (HEEC), for example, has produced over 1000 radio and 140 television health programmes for broadcast across the country in five different languages.

In addition, over 1 million IEC materials for the promotion of health programmes have been distributed throughout the regions in the appropriate local language. The HEEC has recently procured audio-visual equipment to be placed in every health post across the country.

As part of its effort to increase the number of health officials trained in IEC/BCC, the HEEC developed a bachelors and masters programme at Jimma University.

The FMOH recognizes the importance of harmonizing and aligning IEC/BCC and Health Extension Programme activities and has made this a component of its reform activities.