As part of the Local TB Response project, which is funded by USAID and led by ADPP, h2n has been developing and expanding new communication approaches to increase awareness of all aspects of the TB lifecycle from diagnostics to treatment. The five-year project seeks to expand the TB response in 50 districts in Sofala, Tete, Zambezia and Nampula provinces in a collaborative effort with partners and the National Program to Combat TB.
While the project’s main focus is on improving diagnosis, treatment and care, h2n is working on optimizing all aspects of communication around the disease. “There is often a lack of understanding and stigma around TB, and this is something we are trying to overcome by involving both medical professionals and patient advocates in the communication,” explains Edinise Nassone, the h2n project coordinator for TB communications. “Because TB is typically a co-morbidity to other diseases, it is important to understand and address the preconceptions that community members have around it,” says Edinise.
Her team uses community radio, video and television but is also developing a podcast series in 24 episodes that addresses many different aspects of the disease at different stages of its life cycle, overcoming information gaps and misperceptions in the process. Importantly, the podcasts are not only broadcast on community radios, but are available for easy download and distribution via the web and social media. “The most powerful characteristic of podcasts, apart from being a compact format, is that they can be downloaded and listened to by smartphone or multiple other devices whenever and wherever people want to listen to them,” says Edinise.
Anyone reading this on email or WhatsApp, for example, may easily download, link or pass on the podcast to all their contacts. h2n works with community-based communication, produces television programs and videos, organizes youth centers and pursues a comprehensive gender equality agenda.