Building Communication Capacity to Counter Infectious Disease Threats Proceedings of a Workshop (2017) / Chapter Skim
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6 A Systems Perspective on Strengthening Risk Communication and Community Engagement in Disease Outbreak Response
6 A Systems Perspective on Strengthening Risk Communication and Community Engagement in Disease Outbreak Response
Pages 81-92
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From page 81... ...
The two panelists were Gaya Gamhewage, head of interventions and guidance in the Infectious Hazard Management Department of the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Health Emergency Program, and Erma Manoncourt, founding president of M&D Consulting and retired United Nations official.
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From page 82... ...
, has its roots in the first wave of globalization that saw diseases carried from Asia and Africa back to Europe, and it includes risk communication as one of eight core capacities for responding to and mitigating the international transmission of diseases. Also relevant, said Gamhewage, is the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework, whose main purpose is to settle issues of international property rights related to novel influenza virus strains but that also includes pandemic risk communication as one of five preparedness areas.
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From page 83... ...
• Coordinate activities among all partners and across all sectors and levels and avoid ego-driven battles to control risk communication activities. • Build national capacity and support national ownership, including among top leadership.
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From page 84... ...
Similarly, for the response to the 2016 yellow fever outbreak, risk communication, and community engagement were an integral part of the response strategy, and funds were allocated for operational capacity and social mobilization. International Health Regulations IHR, Gamhewage explained, is an agreement among all the countries of the world that authorizes WHO to receive information, investigate reports of outbreaks, declare public health emergencies of international concern, and direct travel restrictions.
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From page 85... ...
In 2016, the regulations were changed to require exercises, after-action reviews, and joint external evaluations to assess communication capabilities by using an integrated systems model for assessment. This model includes five domains: risk communication systems, internal and partner communication and coordination, public communication, communication engagement with affected communities, and dynamic listening and rumor management (see Figure 6-1)
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From page 86... ...
She also recommended that risk communicators need to show decision makers the cost of not investing in risk communication and that effective risk communication requires specific skills and datasets. Her fourth recommendation was to evolve national preparedness from a sole focus on technical and biomedical excellence to one that includes social and operational aspects, such as having the capacity to train tens of thousands of frontline responders.
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From page 87... ...
Forming in-country academic and corporate partnerships could be one approach for developing surge capacity that would benefit from involving experts with local knowledge, but whatever approach a country takes, noted Manoncourt, it should be detailed in a national capacity development plan for frontline workers, supervisors and managers, and policy makers and decision makers. Manoncourt said that, during the Ebola outbreak, nongovernmental organizations put much of their energies into training frontline workers, which enabled other partners to work with decision makers, managers, and supervisors.
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From page 88... ...
She also noted the importance of community monitoring, and commented that such monitoring was done well by using mobile phones and texted questions during the Ebola outbreak. One reason using mobile phones was possible, she added, was that the risk communication team involved the national telecommunication companies, which allowed people to have access to the service without financing.
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From page 89... ...
"Everybody has seen everybody else come in and get monies for the work that they are trying to do, and yet we are saying we want you to come out and do it on behalf of the community." DISCUSSION Jay Siegel, chief biotechnology officer and head of scientific strategy and policy at Johnson & Johnson, commented that the U.S. government seems to lose interest in an outbreak once the emergency is gone, and as a result, long-term funding for capacity building and preparedness is always an issue.
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From page 90... ...
After noting there are only two pieces of international law for health -- IHR and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control -- Gamhewage said that since the Ebola outbreak, the world community has become more serious about IHR and risk communication. The Global Health Security Agenda, which launched in 2014, is focusing on and investing resources in joint external evaluations and national action planning.
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From page 91... ...
He noted that UNICEF is working with WHO and other partners to look at influencing the global humanitarian architecture to include risk communication and to detail who is responsible for what activities.
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