Cost Savings through Collaboration

What happens when you bring the first large-scale IRS campaign to Cote d’Ivoire? If you’re VectorLink Cote d’Ivoire, you get everyone on board! This week’s Fist Bump Friday goes out to the VL Cote d’Ivoire team for their success in garnering strong community collaboration from the beginning. Recognizing that community ownership is key to the sustainability of IRS, VL Cote d’Ivoire, PMI, and the NMCP met with regional and district-level health directors and other community leaders from the targeted districts (Bouaké and Sakassou) in January to discuss the importance of the communities’ engagement and disseminate information about the benefits of IRS. A total of 55 attendees were involved in the advocacy sessions. The outcome of the two-day meeting not only created enthusiasm and support but a huge cost savings as the communities are providing all operational sites free of charge! Only minor costs will be incurred to ensure the sites are operable and compliant. This is a big win for VL Cote d’Ivoire and shows that community engagement early on pays off. In addition to the community collaboration, VL and district leaders discussed the creation of an IRS steering committee at the district level. VL Cote d’Ivoire will begin IRS operations in April.

Congratulations, VL Cote d’Ivoire, and good luck with the campaign!