Development in Practice
Volume 23, Issue 1, 2013
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cdip20/current
Reaching beyond the health post: Community-based surveillance for polio eradication
Dora Curry, Filimona Bisrat, Ellen Coates & Penny Altman
pages 69-78  DOI:10.1080/09614524.2013.753410

Abstract
This article discusses the CORE Group Polio Project Ethiopia’s introduction of community-based surveillance (CBS) of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) to support polio eradication. A USAID-funded collaboration among Ethiopian and US-based NGOs, the CGPP supports volunteers in education about AFP and encouraging case reporting. Volunteers also conduct active case searches, visiting community leaders likely to have contact with paralysis cases. The project’s methods strengthen communities’ awareness of AFP and their connection to the health system. Data indicate a near doubling of AFP reporting in project areas since the implementation of CBS, according to MOH-E (Ministry of Health, Ethiopia)/WHO statistics.