This document describes the principles to consider when deliberating the implementation of mass vaccination campaigns for prevention of vaccine-preventable diseases and high impact diseases (VPD/HID), and when assessing risks and benefits of conducting outbreak-response vaccination campaigns to respond to VPD/HID outbreaks.
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Although infodemics are not a new phenomenon, the volume and rapid scale-up of facts, but also misinformation and disinformation, surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak are unprecedented.
Deeply concerned with the undermining consequences of the current infodemic to the COVID-19 response and acknowledging the great potential for improved risk communication through new tools, the WHO has called on key stakeholders and the global community to commit to undertaking the actions in this article.
Source: Call for Action: Managing the Infodemic
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The authors globally evaluate the effect of social media and online foreign disinformation campaigns on vaccination rates and attitudes towards vaccine safety.
The study found that the use of social media to organise offline action is highly predictive of the belief that vaccinations are unsafe, with such beliefs mounting as more organization occurs on social media. In addition, the prevalence of foreign disinformation is highly statistically and substantively significant in predicting a drop in mean vaccination coverage over time.
Source: Social Media and Vaccine Hesitancy
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This report presents key findings and recommendations from a series of four discussion-based expert consultation workshops. These consultations—organized by the READY initiative and the Inter Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in crises (IAWG)—brought Maternal, Newborn, and Reproductive Health and infectious disease stakeholders together to review MNRH in the preparedness/outbreak response context and identify priorities for the ongoing pandemic.
This report compiles and shares participants’ experiences and lessons learned, and identifies challenges and gaps in implementing humanitarian MNRH services in COVID-19 across the world. The recommendations developed from these consultations are intended to support MNRH services and actors to improve access and quality of care to vulnerable populations in future waves of COVID-19 and in future outbreaks.
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Following the outbreak of COVID-19, the World Health Organization made a number of recommendations regarding the utilisation of healthcare services. In general, there has been a reduction in elective healthcare services including outpatient clinics, diagnostic services and elective surgery.
Inevitably these reductions for all but the most urgent clinical work will have a detrimental impact on patients, and alternative ways of working including the use of telemedicine may help to mitigate this. Similarly, electronic solutions may enable clinicians to maintain inter and intra-professional working in both clinical and academic settings. Implementation of electronic solutions to minimise direct patient contact will be new to many clinicians, and the sheer number of software solutions available and varying functionality may be overwhelming to anyone unfamiliar with ‘virtual communication’.
In this article, we will aim to summarise the variety of electronic communication platforms and tools available for clinicians and patients, detailing their utility, pros and cons, and some ‘tips and tricks’ from our experience through our work as an international research collaborative.
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The UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, announced the start of a year-long global campaign to help people quit tobacco, with millions citing the threat of COVID-19 as a new incentive to give up the habit.
Source: New WHO Campaign to Help COVID-era Quitters Kick the Habit
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A recent report by researchers from Northeastern University and elsewhere found that the number of Americans heeding most recommendations has dropped steadily since April. (Mask-wearing, which has increased, was an exception.)
This article relates several instances of intended audiences practicing appropriate behavior when they believe others are doing the same thing, i.e., adhering to social norms. What one believes others are doing influences our actions, but so does what we imagine they view as acceptable.
Source: We Know How to Curb the Pandemic. How Do We Make People Listen?
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This dashboard is a visualization of a study of knowledge, attitudes and practices around COVID-19 and is a collaboration among Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, Facebook Data for Good, MIT, WHO and Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network.
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This is a report from a meeting held in October 2020 to discuss behavioral considerations relating to vaccine acceptance and uptake.
The discussion focused on a series of key questions around achieving high and equitable uptake of vaccines through evidence-based and behaviourally informed strategies. This meeting report is the product of the discussion held by WHO TAG members during the meeting. It covers only the topics that were addressed at the meeting.
The study introduces the topic by stating that behavioral research identifies three categories of drivers of vaccine uptake, in addition to people having the necessary knowledge:
The three drivers interact and overlap, depending on contexts; however, for the purpose of understanding the problem and identifying strategies, it is helpful to keep the categories separate. An appreciation of each driver leads to its own set of insights and interventions, or mix of interventions, which will often vary across communities.
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This document, dated December 2, 2020, is an update of the guidance published previously and includes updated scientific evidence relevant to the use of masks for preventing transmission of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as well as practical considerations. It is presented in the form of Questions and Answers.
Source: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Masks
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This website is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Breakthrough ACTION Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-17-00017. Breakthrough ACTION is based at Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP).The contents of this website are the sole responsibility of Breakthrough ACTION and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States Government, or Johns Hopkins University.
