The vital importance of risk communication, community engagement and infodemic management (RCCE-IM) in emergency response and the need to build capacity in the science to deal with future crises was the focus of a milestone forum in Denmark on 5–7 December 2023.
The forum included the presentation of 2 new tools to enhance RCCE-IM: first, a capability mapping tool which allows for self-assessment among key stakeholders to better understand their existing skills to respond to emergencies; second, an RCCE-IM plan creator which teaches users, through a course of 10 modules, how to create emergency plans.
Opening the event, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, emphasized the importance of having RCCE-IM at the core of the response through multiple recent health crises.
Highlighting the Region’s journey from a period with few major emergencies to facing multiple simultaneous events – including COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria – he stressed the need for resilience in what he termed a “permacrisis” situation. He also shared his personal commitment to social justice and the prioritization of vulnerable populations in health emergencies.
Dr Kluge’s address set the stage for a forum focused on unlocking the wealth of experience in the room to build back better for the future, with RCCE-IM capacity-building at the core of preparedness efforts.
Bridging health services delivery and access
Attended by government health professionals, donors, partners, civil society organizations and academics from across the European Region, the forum pinpointed learnings to position RCCE-IM as a core and evidence-based public health intervention right across the emergency cycle, from prevention to recovery.
Recent emergencies have made it clear that people’s behaviours are central to emergency control. Therefore, delivering health services and interventions in emergencies is not enough. These services and interventions must also be accessed. To use an analogy from medicine: what matters is not vaccines but vaccination.
“RCCE-IM bridges health service delivery and access. It does so by building trust and empowering you, as a member of the community, to take informed decisions to protect your health and the health of those around you in emergencies,” explained Cristiana Salvi, Regional Adviser on RCCE-IM.
Through effective RCCE-IM, affected and at-risk communities receive health information and advice tailored to their perceptions and needs, and are engaged in co-designing and co-delivering solutions to address their health priorities. In addition, RCCE-IM can help mitigate the spread and impact of false information that might harm individuals and communities.
Breakthrough capacity-building tools launched
The forum was also designed to launch 2 milestone capacity-building tools.
Believing an effective RCCE-IM response is built on strong preparedness, WHO/Europe started to build capacity before the pandemic. However, the sheer size of the COVID-19 crisis – with its profound impact on the health systems of almost every country in the Region – brought the need to further strengthen RCCE-IM capacities and capabilities into sharp focus.
Dr Gundo Weiler, Director, Country Support and Partnerships, and Acting Regional Emergency Director, speaking alongside Dr Kluge, said the new tools were a testament to WHO/Europe’s commitment to learning from unprecedented experience and turning challenges into opportunities for growth and learning.
The first is the RCCE-IM Capability Mapping Tool, a comprehensive framework for professionals, organizations and countries to self-assess and map their skills, knowledge and attitudes.
The second is the RCCE-IM Plan Creator, an innovative online platform, in 10 modules, that empowers users to create strategic and tactical emergency plans.
The tools were developed in conjunction with a team from the University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom, led by Anne Gregory, Professor Emeritus of Corporate Communication. The complex project took 14 months, and Professor Gregory believes the new tools will now have an important role in RCCE-IM going forward.
“This is exciting work, worthwhile work. Good risk communications save lives. So, when I was approached by WHO to help develop this, I was in.” explained the professor.
She added: “The work in RCCE-IM is really complex and sophisticated. So, gaining a detailed understanding of that and putting it into a capability framework was challenging work. It very much relied on the expertise of the WHO/Europe community to help us do that”.
Forum delegate Kjartan Njálsson, Assistant to the Director of Health at the Directorate of Health in Iceland, said the new tools would provide him with innovative ways to build new emergency plans and adjust old ones.
“I come from a country where natural events and difficulties are extremely common, so we are a nation of plan makers, and all tools that assist in that matter are of great use to us,” said Mr Njálsson.
He added: “A forum like this has been eye-opening. We live in complex times and our societies are growing more complex. We need to collaborate with colleagues, both at home and abroad, to learn new things and to learn from their experiences. We have moved way beyond the point where we can issue orders to a population following an emergency. We have to look at society as a whole. We have to be inclusive, and we need to have an active dialogue with the population”.
More investment in the future of RCCE-IM is needed
Many forum delegates spoke about the urgent need for more investment in RCCE-IM research, and for university courses and modules to embed RCCE-IM in curricula to train the next generation of experts.
“It is very important that we now try to institutionalize this more and more into public health agencies and ministries of health, so that decision-makers realize this is something they must invest in. It’s quite clear – and the experience of the pandemic has shown us – that this does pay off and we need to be doing more and more of this on an evidence-based basis,” said John Kinsman, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Expert on Social and Behaviour Change.
Adding to the significance of the forum, WHO/Europe also introduced an RCCE-IM community of practice. This platform is expected to promote peer learning and support among countries of the European Region, fostering a more unified and resilient approach to managing health emergencies.
“As we look towards the horizon, let us do so not with fear but with confidence that we are prepared. Let us invest in RCCE-IM capacities, let us nurture the partnerships that strengthen us, and let us move forward with an unwavering determination to protect and promote the health of all our communities,” Dr Weiler concluded.