The Role of Risk Communication in Pandemics
On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) under the IHR. On March 11 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak was labelled a global pandemic. Since then, no country has remained untouched and Risk Communication has been playing an essential part in pandemic response.
In 2022, ASEF PHN and Public Health Wales are set to organise a high-level meeting on ”Risk Communication for PHEs: The Role of Risk Communication in Pandemics”. Since every country has had to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting aims to cover the common challenges faced by ASEM Partners while implementing risk communication. Topics on the agenda include but are not limited to: dealing with the politics of implementing risk communication; including migrants and ethnic minorities; communicating uncertainty; addressing the COVID-19 infodemic; effectively using social media; tackling vaccine hesitancy; translating science into action; and fostering two-way risk communication.
Objectives
The overall aim of the high-level meeting is to strengthen countries’ capacity to support Risk Communication for PHEs. It intends to provide a platform for the bi-regional exchange of best practices and lessons learnt related to Risk Communication during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
Specific objectives of the meeting are:
• To address the challenges in Risk Communication identified during the COVID-19 pandemic;
• To facilitate networking among Risk Communication practitioners across Asia and Europe, enabling the exchange of best Risk Communication practices and lessons learnt; and
• To determine the areas of international/intersectoral collaboration to improve Risk Communication for future public health emergencies.
Target Audience
The high-level meeting will aim to include the following audiences: i) Government officials in charge of health emergencies and emergency risk communication; ii) Government officials from sectors other than health that are involved in the COVID-19 pandemic response; and iii) representatives from civil society, including Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), International Organisations (IOs) and academia.
Expected Outcomes
The high-level meeting will foster the exchange of good practices and lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic in establishing and improving Risk Communication processes in Asia and Europe.
The outcome of the meeting will be summarised in a short report containing the key recommendations and/or in the form of a toolkit.
