A new Global Program on Avian and Pandemic Flu
Communication is operating at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health's
Center for Communication Programs. The initiative
signals the center's commitment to using strategic
communication to proactively achieve a prepared
international avian and pandemic flu community.
"Although we wish we lived in a world without the
threat of avian flu, we hope our work in strategic behavior
change communications will be at the forefront of public
health efforts to contain it," said Jane Bertrand, CCP
director.
Under the leadership of co-directors Shana Yansen and
Basil Safi, the Global Program will draw on the technical
expertise of senior staff members Jose Rimon II, James
Williams and Doug Storey and will work closely with partner
institutions and organizations, including The Johns Hopkins
University, USAID, UNICEF, World Bank, the Food and
Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, local governments,
national stakeholders and the media.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza, known as H5N1, is a
potentially devastating threat to public health in
countries worldwide, significantly impacting developing
economies with reliance on commercial and backyard poultry
producers. If the virus becomes pandemic in human
populations, it will be catastrophic. According to Storey,
both the 1918 outbreak, which killed more than 20 million
people worldwide, and the 1987 Asian flu outbreak
originated with avian viruses that successfully made the
leap to humans.
The establishment of the Global Program brings
together years of work CCP has done around the world in
response to avian influenza. CCP operates avian flu
programs in Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Jordan, Indonesia and
Egypt.
In Egypt, for example, the USAID-funded Communication
for Healthy Living project led by CCP has provided
technical assistance to Egypt's Ministry of Health and
Ministry of Information in the implementation of an avian
flu communication response that would be quick, unified and
effective. Within hours of the confirmation of cases of the
H5N1 virus on Feb. 17, 2006, all the major state-owned
television channels were broadcasting the news and airing
an informative spot showing families how to protect
themselves from the deadly virus. PARC Media Monitoring
Services reported that the TV message reached 82 percent of
Egyptian adults, or 34 million people, within a day.
On the domestic front, CCP is developing an internal
communication program to inform and prepare Johns Hopkins
employees and constituents about a possible pandemic
influenza outbreak in the greater Baltimore/Washington
area.
The Global Program on Communication also will house an
interactive digital library and resource center for avian
and pandemic flu communication. The resource center —
which already contains some of the best TV and radio spots,
posters, flip charts, booklets and other materials
developed in various country programs — will continue
to grow and serve health, communication and avian and
pandemic flu professionals worldwide.
"Technology has greatly increased access to
information for people around the world," Yansen said. "One
of CCP's global initiatives is the development of an
interactive Web-based tool kit in avian and pandemic
influenza." The tool is being developed in collaboration
with international organizations including UNICEF, FAO,
World Health Organization, CDC and the World Bank, and is
funded by the Government of Japan. With resources from all
over the world, the tool provides access to essential Web
sites, documents, research studies and
emergency-preparedness models for developing strategic
avian and pandemic influenza communication plans.
For more information, go to www.jhuccp.org and click
on "Avian Flu (Global Program)."