What is SM in ACSM

Social Mobilisation (SM) is the process of bringing together different stakeholders and building partnerships to prevent, detect and cure TB. It generates dialogue, negotiation and consensus among a range of players that includes decision-makers, the media, Non-government Organisations (NGOs), opinion leaders, policy-makers, the private sector, professional associations, TB-patient networks and religious groups.

At the heart of social mobilisation is the need to involve people who are either living with active TB or have suffered from it at some time in the past.

Aims of Social Mobilisation

• Increase awareness of the disease (TB) and the demand for diagnosis and treatment services

• Expand service delivery through community-based approaches

• Enhance sustainability, accountability and community ownership of TB services

Activities for Social Mobilisation

• Group and community meetings - Engaging yuva/ mahila mandals, village health sanitation and nutrition committees under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), sensitization of local and religious leaders on TB and related stigma in the community. Regular meetings at the village level to address myths and misconceptions and help people with TB symptoms seek timely and appropriate care or referrals.
• School activities - Conducting TB awareness campaigns in schools by addressing the school assembly/ class, painting competitions, rallies, road shows, essay competitions, drawing competitions, exhibitions, dramas, pictorial presentations, quizzes, puzzles, puppet shows, leaflet distributions etc.
• Traditional media group performances - Performing entertainment-centred folk performances, street plays with scripts centred around TB awareness messages.
• Rallies and road shows - Spreading TB related messages on World TB day.
• Home visits - Encouraging interpersonal communication and empowering former TB patients and TB champions to become Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course (DOTS) providers.

Here, inter-personal communication and group communication are the main channels of communication for disseminating TB-related key messages.

In the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), partner NGOs play an important role in social/ community mobilisation. It generates dialogue, negotiation and consensus, engaging a range of players in interrelated and complementary efforts while taking into account people’s needs.

Resources

1. Advocacy,Communication & Social Mobilisation (ACSM) for Tuberculosis Control - A Handbook for Country Programmes, WHO, 2007.
2. Operational Handbook on Advocacy, Communication & Social Mobilisation for RNTCP, Central TB Division, MoHFW, GoI, 2014.

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