163504 Avian influenza communication challenges in West Africa: Results from rapid assessments during outbreaks

Monday, November 5, 2007: 5:30 PM

Yaya Drabo, PhD , Global Health, Population and Nutrition Group, Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DC
Silvio Waisbord, PhD , Global Health, Population and Nutrition Group, Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DC
Phillip Sedlak , Global Health, Population and Nutrition Group, Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DC
A series of rapid assessment visits were undertaken in several countries in West Africa during 2006, including Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, and Cote d'Ivoire, to determine communication capacity and identify gaps in relating information on avian influenza during outbreaks. This presentation will outline the various challenges that were discovered during these assessment visits (as well as the processes used for the assessments), and recommendations for addressing the obstacles and unmet needs that were documented. The barriers were classified into three categories: advocacy challenges, such as uneven funding and implementation, and difficulty in sustaining attention on AI given the competing priorities of key stakeholders; management challenges, such as a lack of coordination within governments and among partners; and technical challenges, such as a lack of clarity about priority populations, uneven risk perception of AI among populations, a lack of understanding of the complex uses of chickens, and misunderstanding of motivations for desirable disease prevention and control behaviors. Policy implications are addressed, including the need for sustained advocacy, promoting effective communication planning, and facilitating enhanced coordination among partners.

Learning Objectives:
• Understand the process of undertaking a series of rapid assessment visits to gauge avian influenza communication capacity in Nigeria, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso • Discuss the challenges faced by these countries in implementing communications programs related to avian influenza, particularly related to management and technical/scientific capacity. • Discuss findings of the rapid communication assessments that have direct implications on policy and communication related to avian flu

Keywords: Infectious Diseases, Communication Evaluation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.