Download Risk Communication

Strategic Communication and Advocacy
for Risk Reduction
Trends and Lessons
Satyajit Sarkar
Team Leader, ECTAD Communication Unit, FAO Rome
For every complex problem,
there is a simple solution.
Often, it’s wrong.
(Anonymous)
What’s the Problem Here?
Photo -- A. Roy Choudhary, Frontline magazine, Kolkata, India.
What’s the Problem Here?
What’s the Problem Here?
What’s the Problem Here?
What’s the Problem Here?
Livestock Sector and the Animal-Human Interface
• Employs an estimated 1.3 billion people (1 out of 5)
• It creates livelihoods for almost one billion of the world’s poor
• Livestock products provide one-third of humanity’s protein intake
and one-fifth of energy intake.
• Livestock production accounts for 70% of all agricultural land.
• Over 60% of the 1400 infectious agents of humans have an animal
origin. 75% of new infectious diseases have originated from animal
reservoirs
Source: Livestock’s Long Shadow, FAO, 2006
Animal Health: A Complex Communication Challenge - 1
• Many TADs/EIDs become highly politicized issues (e.g., those
with pandemic potential – H5N1, H1N1 etc.)
• Millions of people involved/dependent on livestock production
• Tools for prevention/control – bio-security, stamping out,
movement control, and vaccination are logistically complex
• Communication capacities of many nations are limited and
seriously under-resourced compared to scale of problems
• Competing health and development priorities
Animal Health: A Complex Communication Challenge - 2
It’s a very cluttered communication landscape:
ACTORS/PLAYERS:
• Govts, FAO, WHO, UNICEF, OIE, IFRC, other UN agencies, NGOs, etc.
DONORS:
• USAID, CIDA, SIDA, AusAID, WORLD BANK, CFIA etc.
CHANGING ISSUES:
• SARS, H5N1, H1N1, other TADs/EIDs
Information – Education - Communication – Public Awareness – Public Education – Social
Mobilization – Community Mobilization – Advocacy – Information Officer – Media Officer –
Communication Officer – Reporting Officer – Advocacy Officer - Development Support
Communication – Pandemic Communication – Animal Health Communication – Human
Health Communication – Media Relations – Donor Relations – Corporate Relations – External
Relations – Public Relations - Risk Communication – Outbreak Communication – Behaviour
Change Communication – Development Communication – Participatory Communication –
Programme Communication – Information – Education - Communication – Public Awareness
– Public Education – Social Mobilization – Community Mobilization – Advocacy – Information
Officer – Media Officer – Communication Officer – Reporting Officer – Advocacy Officer Development Support Communication – Pandemic Communication – Animal Health
Communication – Human Health Communication – Media Relations – Donor Relations –
Corporate Relations – External Relations – Public Relations - Risk Communication –
Outbreak Communication
– Behaviour
Communication – Development
do we
haveChange
a shared
Communication – Participatory Communication – Programme Communication – Information
understanding
of –what
we – Social Mobilization –
– Education - Communication
– Public Awareness
Public Education
Community Mobilization
– Advocacy
Information Officer – Media Officer – Communication
mean
by –‘communication’?
Officer – Reporting Officer – Advocacy Officer - Development Support Communication –
Pandemic Communication – Animal Health Communication – Human Health Communication
– Media Relations – Donor Relations – Corporate Relations – External Relations – Public
Relations
Strategic Communication
Involves 4 distinct but harmonized elements, with internal
and external audiences:
• Programmatic Communication – to inform and empower
• Advocacy – to influence policy and political agendas
• Social Mobilization – to build consensus and expand
partnerships
• Capacity Building – to strengthen and sustain the gains
Fundamental Premise
Communication can only address/influence information
and perception related factors.
It cannot replace the provision of services.
But communication can ensure the availability
and uptake of those services.
By stopping diseases at source, we
will be saving lives and protecting livelihoods.
For prevention/control strategies to
succeed, we need to ask ourselves:
• Do livestock keepers/farmers, communities, and frontline
workers agree with the strategies?
• Is the general public fully engaged and willing to participate
in the response?
• Is the media and civil society (NGOs) on our side and
support the strategies?
• Are all donors and all sectors of national governments fully
and demonstrably committed to the strategies?
Some big unanswered questions
• Which 2-3 interventions will bring about the biggest impact
on the disease, and are they amenable to communication
efforts?
• What are the real barriers/enablers impeding or supporting
change in behaviours/practices?
• Currently, what constitutes good/best communication
practices? Does it have to do with messaging, or strategies?
Messages and Behavioural Outcomes
(FAO-WHO-UNICEF HPAI Guidance, 2006)
• Report unusual sickness/death among poultry, wild birds and other
animals immediately to the authorities
• Separate your poultry species, from wild birds, new birds and living
areas
• Wash hands frequently with soap and water
• Clean clothes, footwear, vehicles and cages with soap or disinfectant
• Do not sell or transport suspected sick animals
• Handle, prepare and consume poultry safely
• Seek treatment immediately if have fever after contact with sick birds
• Burn and/or bury dead birds safely
Emerging lessons at the ground level:
• Campaigns and messaging largely focused on animal-to-human transmission
and less on animal-to-animal transmission.
• Complexities around production and marketing chains not adequately
addressed by most communication strategies.
• Motivational factors to adopt safe production practices still not fully
understood due to inadequate analysis of socio-economic and sociocultural ground realities.
• Communication support to control measures during outbreaks is dependent
on existence of clear national policies on compensation, quarantine, etc.
Risk Communication
• A relatively new field, evolving from methods for estimating
risk to humans exposed to toxicants and in research
directed at how individuals perceive risk.
• Closely intertwined with the work and processes of risk
assessment and risk management.
• Currently recognized as a necessary component in risk
management and community decision-making, especially in
the areas of environmental and occupational health.
Risk Communication
Defined broadly as:
“An interactive process of exchange of information and
opinion among individuals, groups, and institutions; often
involved multiple messages about the nature of risk or
expressing concerns, opinions, or reactions to risk messages
or to legal and institutional arrangements for risk
management.”
Source: HHS, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Real and Perceived Risk
• Technically, real or objective risk is defined as:
(Probability of the hazard occurring) X (Impact of the hazard)
• However, perceived risk can be formulated as:
(Technical risk) x (Nature of hazard) x (Context of perceiver)
How individuals or communities respond and react to an
emergency depends on how they perceive the risk.
This is influenced by their context i.e. their own life
experiences, values, and culture.
Evolution of Risk Communication
• All we have to do is get the numbers right
• All we have to do is tell them the numbers
• All we have to do is explain what we mean by the numbers
• All we have to do is show them that they’ve accepted similar
risks in the past
• All we have to do is show them that’s it’s a good deal for them
• All we have to do is make them partners
• All of the above (i.e., have a dialogue with the public)
Features of an emergency situation
• Unfolding events. True impact may not be known for weeks or
months, which leads to speculation and great uncertainty
• Human behaviour plays a key role in further transmission and
spread
• Unpredictable, decisions often demanded even while reliable
information is limited
• Socially and economically disruptive, therefore have strong
political dimensions
• Creates anxiety in the public, and often in response-managers
and other decision-makers
5 Key Principles for communicating during an emergency
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Build Trust
Announce Early
Demonstrate Transparency
Listen to the Public/Audience
Plan in Advance
“The over-arching
communication goal
during an outbreak
is to communicate
with the public in
ways that build,
maintain, or restore
trust.”
(WHO Outbreak
Communication
Guidelines)
Components of Trust
Trust is built on the public’s
perception of your:
Motives: Are responders acting
primarily to protect my health
and the health of my family?
Trust must come
before a crisis
does
Honesty: Are the responders
holding back or downplaying
information?
Trust cannot be
built overnight
Competence: Are the
responders capable of
controlling the situation?
The First Announcement
REASONS FOR DELAYING
• Fear of the “unknowns”.
• Belief that public will
panic.
REASONS FOR NOT DELAYING
• Outbreaks/Crises can’t be
hidden for long.
• Avoids rumours and
speculation from emerging.
• Belief that the media will
sensationalise, and the
opposition/competitors
will exploit the situation.
• Press is helpful at first, but
will not tolerate
concealment.
• Belief that “if you say
nothing, then nothing will
happen”.
• Being forced by the press to
acknowledge a crisis
undermines public trust.
TRANSPARENCY
IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY
BARRIERS TO TRANSPARENCY
• Aim for total candour
• Discomfort with delivering
bad news to the public.
• Don’t over-reassure
• Real or perceived competing
interests (economic vs.
health)
• Keep a detailed record of
decisions taken
• Promise and deliver
regular updates
• Fear that the media will
misrepresent or
sensationalise
• Belief that the public cannot
handle uncertainty
In the foreseeable future...
• Massive intensification and expansion of large-scale
commercial animal production and trade is anticipated.
• Smallholder animal production will continue to remain an
important source of income and nutritional security
among vulnerable communities.
• Outbreaks of multiple trans-boundary animal diseases may
compound and further stretch national animal health and
veterinary services.
Specific multi-disciplinary research is
needed to refine current strategies
• Identify feasible bio-security options for producers, processors and
traders – backyard or commercial.
• Understand better, the motivational factors for:
– wide-scale adoption of bio-secure production practices in resourceconstrained settings.
– wide-scale reporting of suspect epidemiological events by
communities, with or without (financial) incentives.
– minimizing market shocks following outbreak announcements
In conclusion...(1)
• Communication that fosters trust, transparency and dialogue
between national authorities, the private sector and the public,
are key factors that will influence response during a crisis.
• Strong public education and awareness campaigns on issues of
public interest should be initiated even if there is no crisis, as a
means for building and maintaining trust.
• Good data on the perceptions of risk among publics need to be
generated at country-level, to inform communication
campaigns.
• Partnerships with the media, and involvement of the public, are
critical for responding effectively to any emergency and crisis.
In Conclusion...(2)
There is urgent need to:
• Rapidly and systematically build competencies and leadership in
strategic communication and advocacy for risk reduction among
member states, and
• Create a critical mass and network of communication specialists
among developing and in-transition countries, with a focus on the
animal-human-ecosystems interface.
No one is really doing it. Countries are demanding it.
Donors are interested.
Remember...
All problems, are
communication problems.
Believing in that,
is the solution.
Thank You.