Avian Flu and Communication in Africa

This edition of The Soul Beat looks at communication related to Avian Influenza (AI) in Africa. It includes programme descriptions, strategic thinking documents and materials that reflect how Africa is using communication to respond to the threat of avian influenza (avian flu or bird flu) on the continent.

If you would like your organisation's communication work or research and resource documents to be featured on the Soul Beat Africa website and in The Soul Beat newsletters, please contact the Editor - Anja Venth aventh@comminit.com

SEEKING AVIAN INFLUENZA COMMUNICATION INFORMATION

The Communication Initiative and Soul Beat Africa are seeking information on initiatives using communication to address Avian Influenza globally and in Africa. Please send your information to Deborah Heimann at dheimann@comminit.com or to Anja Venth at aventh@comminit.com

PROGRAMME EXPERIENCES

1. Empowering Staff to Prevent and Manage Avian Influenza - Somalia/South Sudan

The humanitarian organisation CARE's Somalia/South Sudan (CSSS) office has undertaken communication-centred efforts to educate their own staff, as well as to collaborate with local and global avian influenza (AI) networks, in an effort to prevent and/or manage the spread of bird flu in this region.

Contact Moses Onderi onderi@ci.or.ke OR AvianFluWG@care.org

2. Community Mobilisation in Response to Avian Influenza - Uganda

CARE Uganda's office is working to mobilise communities and to heighten awareness about AI among internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the 3 Ugandan districts of Amuru, Gulu, and Pader. CARE Uganda has crafted a number of communication-centred approaches, including the dissemination of messages through drama shows and FM radio as well as the integration of bird flu messages in hygiene and sanitation training sessions.

Contact Edward Sembidde Mwebaze Sembidde@careuganda.org OR AvianFluWG@care.org

3. CHL Avian Influenza Communication - Egypt

Since the avian flu outbreak in Egypt in February 2006, the Communication for Healthy Living (CHL) has implemented the National Avian Influenza Communication Strategy which is one element of Egypt's multi-tiered AI preparedness effort. The wide range of interventions include: television, radio and press announcements; Government of Egypt (GOE) website support; hotline promotion, press inserts, press briefings and journalist training; provider fact-sheets; and consumer fliers, posters and other information materials.

Contact Marwa Kamel mkamel@jhuhcp-eg.org

4. Straight Talk Foundation (STF) Avian Influenza Radio Campaign - Uganda

Launched by Straight Talk Foundation (STF) and supported by DANIDA (the Danish bilateral agency)'s Agriculture Sector Programme Support (ASPS) and the Poultry Association of Uganda (PAU), this was a 3-month radio campaign initiated in Kampala, Uganda to raise awareness of the low level of risk to farmers and consumers in Uganda despite the growing threat of avian influenza in surrounding areas of Africa in early 2006. STF is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) addressing health and development through radio and print communication interventions in Uganda.

Contact Pamela Sinia spamela@straighttalkuganda.org

STRATEGIC THINKING

5. Hygiene Education Campaign Battles Spread of Avian Influenza In Egypt

by Simon Ingram

This article describes some of the bird flu preventative activities and awareness-raising sessions that are part of a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) avian influenza campaign in Egypt. The article describes how health workers are visiting communities to teach villagers, most of whom are the women and girls who look after the poultry, about how to prevent the spread of avian flu. The health workers are using flip charts and other simple tools to explain the hygiene measures needed to avoid avian influenza infection. According to the article, the campaign is also educating school children about avian influenza. Messages about the dangers of bird flu and how to prevent it are being integrated into the daily lessons at some of Egypt’s primary schools.

6. Libreville Declaration on Avian Influenza and the Threat of a Human Pandemic in Africa

This declaration was an outcome of the United Nations Regional Meeting on Avian Influenza in Africa by agencies of the United Nations system and government representatives from 45 countries of the African Region held in Libreville, Gabon, in March 2006. The Declaration includes a statement encouraging countries to implement coherent programmes of public communication and awareness-raising in order to reduce the risk of spread of the epizootics and transmission of the disease to humans. It states that these communication programmes should be developed in consultation with affected people.

7. Nigerian Journalists Learn About Avian Influenza

This article details avian flu workshops that were held for journalists in January 2007 in Kano, Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria. The workshops, organised by Voice of America in partnership with Internews and the Lagos-based Development Communications Network, were designed to educate and inform Nigerian journalists about bird flu. The journalists traveled to poultry markets, conducted interviews with poultry sellers, farmers and veterinarians and learned about what people can do to protect themselves from bird flu. According to Dan Rutz, an official at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the role of journalists should be to help prevent the spread of bird flu by educating and informing people about the disease. He urged journalists to be mindful of the language they use when reporting about bird flu as journalists play an important role in shaping public opinion.

8. West Africa: Four West African Countries Join Forces to Fight Avian Influenza

This article details the cross-border meeting of the top veterinary officials from Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Togo, which took place in June 2007 in Ghana. At the meeting, officials agreed to join forces to look for common solutions to combat the spread of avian influenza. According to the article, the meeting examined the risks of cross-border transmission and focused on ways to improve networking for border surveillance. The veterinary officers also discussed the health communication aspects related to the care of animals, as well as the sharing of samples and compensation for culled birds.

9. Africa's Bird Flu Preparations Must Involve the Media

by Tom Egwang and Julie Clayton

This editorial details how the African media can play a key role in mitigating the spread of avian influenza. The authors explain how media-training workshops in Uganda and Nigeria are empowering journalists to accurately and effectively report on avian influenza issues. According to the article, the workshops have inspired journalists and editors to produce improved bird flu reporting knowledge and coverage. The workshops have also opened up new lines of communication between government officials and the media. For example, in Uganda, the government is planning to involve the media in outbreak simulation exercises, while the Nigerian government is encouraging better links between health officials and the media.

10. Bird flu: a wake-up call to the African media

by Thomas Egwang

According to this article, the arrival of H5N1 in Nigeria suggests that better media communication is key to effectively and adequately informing the public on how to successfully combat avian influenza. The author begins by listing some specific reasons why Africans should be concerned about the spread of avian flu, including the fact that many African villages border on swamps and wetlands which could increase the incidence for contact between wild fowl and domestic poultry. He also notes that Africa's poor infrastructure means the continent lacks sufficient vaccines and the means to distribute them successfully.

11. Côte d'Ivoire - Stepping Up Surveillance On Bird Flu

According to this article, the first avian influenza human fatality in sub-Saharan Africa (the death of a Nigerian woman in January 2007), has prompted Côte d'Ivoire to increase its surveillance and detection of avian flu outbreaks. In an effort to facilitate communication, the bird flu fight is being de-centralised across the country and thousands of government agents have been deployed to set up departmental committees to fight avian influenza. According to the Minister of Animal Production and Marine Resources, the committees will serve as communication centres for information concerning the virus.

12. Africa's Polio Efforts Aiding Bird Flu Fight

by David Brown

This article discusses how Africa's response to the first appearance of H5N1 avian influenza on the African continent may be aided by ongoing campaigns to fight polio. In Nigeria, the polio campaign is being done by thousands of vaccinators and surveillance officers equipped with maps that record every house in every village and who are able to move diagnostic specimens from patient to laboratory quickly and safely. According to the article, this extensive public health infrastructure is now mobilising against avian flu.

13. Mobiles To Track Bird Flu and AIDS Spread

by Jo Best

According to this article, mobile phones are being used to help doctors in Rwanda track the spread of diseases such as avian influenza and HIV/AIDS. Created by the GSM Association and Voxiva, the system allows medical and government staff to report on disease outbreaks, patient treatment status and to order medicine - all by using a mobile phone.

14. Africa Must Fight Bird Flu Itself

This article posted on the BBC website explains how the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that African countries should not rely on rich donor nations to help tackle bird flu and that efforts must be stepped up to prepare for possible outbreaks. This would include setting aside national revenues for an emergency fund. During a visit to Kenya, WHO Director General Dr Lee Jong-Wook warned that persuading African farmers to cull possibly infected birds would be very difficult without clear indications of compensation.

15. Program Update: Avian Influenza in Ghana

This 3-page report from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) describes strategic preparation for following the May 2007 outbreak of avian influenza (AI) in Ghana. The document cites the usefulness of preparation and lists among remaining challenges the economic and cultural centrality of poultry, not only as a food commodity, but also as part of traditions such as the bride price, gifts, and religious rituals.

MATERIALS

16. Avian Flu - Online Information Resources

by International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD)

The IICD is supporting the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Ghana with an information campaign on avian influenza (AI). For this purpose IICD has put together an avian flu online information package. The aim of the document is to assist in dispelling any misunderstandings regarding bird flu and to offer important resources for organisations. The resource includes a section on the signs of avian influenza, frequently asked questions, contacts to major organisations involved in combating and controlling AI, links to news sources for AI as well as contacts to experts in Africa.

17. Ghana: Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) Avian Flu Resources

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) has developed information, education, and communication (IEC) resources to help reduce the spread of avian influenza in Ghana. The resources are intended to raise awareness among African children about avian flu and involve them in educating their communities about the disease.

18. United Against Bird Flu: Reports from the Global Campaign

This booklet, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is the result of photo-reportage missions to Niger, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey and Viet Nam in April and May 2006 by Peter Lowrey and John Riddle, Information Officers in the FAO Information Division. The booklet details the role that the FAO has played in confronting the global avian influenza crisis, which, according to the report, includes “policy advice, strategy design, technical information and guidelines, contingency planning and technical assistance, training, equipment and supplies such as laboratory equipment, vaccines, agency and donor coordination and public advocacy.”

19. Avian and Pandemic Influenza Communication Resources

This online resource centre for pandemic avian influenza communication resources is a joint initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP) and World Health Organization (WHO). The website provides access to communication products, tools and resources to help users access information on how to prevent, contain and respond to avian flu outbreaks.

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Please send material for The Soul Beat to the Editor - Anja Venth aventh@comminit.com