Publication: Making Government-Led Risk and Crisis Communication More Effective: Lessons Learned From Six Countries During the COVID-19 Pandemic
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2023-12-06
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2023-12-06
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Government-led risk and crisis communication (RCC) is an essential priority in directing and supporting effective pandemic response in a country. Ineffective RCC during public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to public confusion, fear, and distrust, which eventually become barriers to the acceptance and practice of risk preventive behavior. In this analysis of five key RCC objectives in six countries (Ghana, Republic of Korea [Korea], Singapore, the United States [US], the United Kingdom [UK], and Vietnam), several lessons for future consideration are identified. First, governments ought to explore reasons for not being able to rapidly initiate and implement effective RCC so barriers can be identified and overcome before another crisis emerges. Second, public leaders must be committed to enhancing consistency, transparency, and accountability in their messaging, by prioritizing deference toward expert advice from scientific and public health experts. Third, it would be prudent to evaluate laws, standard operating procedures, and existing workflows to enhance public-private partnerships that enable cross-utilization of multistakeholder expertise and resources during a crisis. With this goal, it may be useful to proactively identify and acknowledge the important role that information and communication technologies (ICT) can play during non-pandemic times in enhancing health literacy and health communication. Strengthening laws and regulations to ensure privacy and human rights protections for those using ICT should be an ongoing priority, so that when ICTs must be leveraged during a crisis, there is a baseline level of assurance and confidence surrounding their safe and responsible use. Efforts to encourage the familiarization of the public with how infectious disease outbreaks spread and how people can keep themselves and each other safe should also be an ongoing priority, as scientific and health literacy can help the public prepare itself to receive and interpret RCC that is provided during a crisis. The continuous exposure to the technologies and means of sharing health information throughout various subpopulations within a country is an essential part of trust building over time, thus mitigating the fear, anxiety, social stigma, and potential distrust that could occur in times of an evolving pandemic, when levels of uncertainty are still quite high. Routine, repeated assessments of the public’s perceptions and needs during a crisis are key, as are other efforts to increase a nation’s preparedness to launch RCC rapidly and effectively (for example, government commitment to exploring public private partnerships).
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“You, Myoungsoon. 2023. Making Government-Led Risk and Crisis Communication More Effective: Lessons Learned From Six Countries During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Republic of Korea – World Bank Group Partnership On COVID-19 Preparedness and Response. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/40705 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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