What is A in ACSM

In ACSM, "A" stands for Advocacy. "Advocacy" is an activity by an individual or a group that aims to influence the decisions within political, economic and social institutions. 

Advocacy focuses on influencing policy-makers, funders and international decision-making bodies through a variety of channels:

• Conferences, summits and symposia
• Celebrity spokespeople, press conferences, news coverage
• Meetings between various levels of government and civil society organizations
• Official Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), parliamentary debates and other political events
• Partnership meetings, patients’ organizations, private physicians, radio and television talk shows, and service providers.

Types of advocacy

• Policy advocacy: Mainly targets policy-setting, influencing policymakers to incorporate the latest evidence and informs senior politicians and administrators how an issue will affect the country, and outlines actions to take for improving the laws and policies.
• Programme advocacy: Targets opinion leaders at the community level on the need for local action.
• Media advocacy: Validates the relevance of a subject, puts issues on the public agenda and encourages the media to cover TB-related topics regularly and in a responsible manner so as to raise awareness of possible solutions and problems.

Resources

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

Assessment: