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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE USAID Supports Avian Influenza Communication in EgyptNational AI Communication Strategy implemented through USAID-supported partnership between Ministry of Health and Population and Ministry of Information/State Information Services. Within hours of the confirmation of cases of the H5N1 “Avian Influenza” (AI) virus in Egypt on February 17th, all the major state-owned television channels were broadcasting the news to the public as well as airing an informative TV spot showing families how to protect themselves from the deadly virus. PARC Media Monitoring Services reported that the TV message reached 82% of Egyptian adults, or 34 million people, within a day after its first announcement. The quick response was guided by a proactive AI communication strategy developed through USAID’s support to the Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) and Ministry of Information /State Information Service (MOI/SIS). USAID’s Communication for Healthy Living (CHL) Project, which builds the capacity of these Ministries to address issues across health sectors, placed the country in a unique position to respond swiftly and effectively to the crisis. The MOHP and SIS partnership, established with the support of USAID over 25 years ago, builds on the comparative strengths of both institutions – the service delivery capacity of the MOHP and the communication expertise of the Ministry of Information. USAID’s CHL project is designed to build the capacity of both ministries to implement joint programs addressing family planning and reproductive health, maternal and child health, reduction of infectious disease (including AI and HIV/AIDS), and the promotion of healthy lifestyles. CHL project partners disseminate health messages nationally via the mass and electronic media, through MOHP’s 5000+ clinics, through outreach workers from the government and NGOs, and through a national “Ask, Consult” network of 13,000 private pharmacists. Egypt’s Avian Influenza (AI) communication strategy is one element of Egypt’s multi-tiered AI preparedness effort, developed under the auspices of a national committee. The national committee is chaired by the MOHP, and includes representatives from all the concerned national bodies (including the Ministry of Information and Ministry of Agriculture) as well as international partners, such as USAID/ NAMRU and WHO. Egypt’s AI communication strategy is based on WHO and CDC guidelines and takes a comprehensive approach to addressing multiple audiences in a changing risk situation. Among the wide range of interventions are TV, radio and press announcements, GOE website support, hotline promotion, press inserts, press briefings and journalist training, provider fact-sheets, and consumer fliers, posters and other information materials. A CHL-produced leaflet was disseminated prior to the February 17th announcement, and is now being reproduced in the millions by the MOI/SIS. The text will be also be reprinted by the press for distribution as magazine and newspaper inserts. The TV spot for households without live poultry continues to air, and a TV spot for households with poultry is with the television authorities, ready to be aired. A special fact sheet on AI is also being distributed to the 13,000+ private pharmacists in the Ask-Consult network. Conservative estimates of households that keep live poultry in Cairo, alone, number upwards of one million, making them a critical audience for special messaging on prevention, identification, and containment. Both a consumer leaflet and a TV spot aimed at households with live poultry were in production at the time the outbreak was discovered in Egypt, and both are to be rapidly distributed through the multiple communication channels used by CHL. The USAID health office, with the CHL technical assistance team, is continuing to work closely with the MOHP and MOI/SIS to provide support to the national AI committee. The Chairman of the SIS is serving as the official spokesperson on AI, and has set up a media center and website to facilitate timely access to official information, following the principles of transparency in outbreak communication. USAID’s support for the national institutions and networks responsible for health communication in Egypt has resulted in a strong response to the present situation. It will also help Egypt to meet the challenges that lie ahead in communicating about the risks of AI, reducing misinformation, providing prevention information and promoting the safe behaviors that will protect the health of Egypt’s people. |
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