Making Government-Led Risk and Crisis Communication More Effective
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World Bank, Washington, DC
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Government-led risk and crisis
communication (RCC) is an essential priority in directing
and supporting effective pandemic response in a country.
Ineffective RCC during public health emergencies such as the
COVID-19 pandemic can lead to public confusion, fear, and
distrust, which eventually become barriers to the acceptance
and practice of risk preventive behavior. In this analysis
of five key RCC objectives in six countries (Ghana, Republic
of Korea [Korea], Singapore, the United States [US], the
United Kingdom [UK], and Vietnam), several lessons for
future consideration are identified. First, governments
ought to explore reasons for not being able to rapidly
initiate and implement effective RCC so barriers can be
identified and overcome before another crisis emerges.
Second, public leaders must be committed to enhancing
consistency, transparency, and accountability in their
messaging, by prioritizing deference toward expert advice
from scientific and public health experts. Third, it would
be prudent to evaluate laws, standard operating procedures,
and existing workflows to enhance public-private
partnerships that enable cross-utilization of
multistakeholder expertise and resources during a crisis.
With this goal, it may be useful to proactively identify and
acknowledge the important role that information and
communication technologies (ICT) can play during
non-pandemic times in enhancing health literacy and health
communication. Strengthening laws and regulations to ensure
privacy and human rights protections for those using ICT
should be an ongoing priority, so that when ICTs must be
leveraged during a crisis, there is a baseline level of
assurance and confidence surrounding their safe and
responsible use. Efforts to encourage the familiarization of
the public with how infectious disease outbreaks spread and
how people can keep themselves and each other safe should
also be an ongoing priority, as scientific and health
literacy can help the public prepare itself to receive and
interpret RCC that is provided during a crisis. The
continuous exposure to the technologies and means of sharing
health information throughout various subpopulations within
a country is an essential part of trust building over time,
thus mitigating the fear, anxiety, social stigma, and
potential distrust that could occur in times of an evolving
pandemic, when levels of uncertainty are still quite high.
Routine, repeated assessments of the public’s perceptions
and needs during a crisis are key, as are other efforts to
increase a nation’s preparedness to launch RCC rapidly and
effectively (for example, government commitment to exploring
public private partnerships).
Palabras clave
CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS, EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS, PUBLIC SAFETY, CREDIBLE HEALTH INFORMATION, PANDEMIC MISINFORMATION, PUBLIC HEALTH PROMOTION