ESCAIDE 2023 side session 4: Risk communications, community engagement & infodemic management

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown, like never before, that risk communication, community engagement and infodemic management (RCCE-IM) is at the heart of effective health emergency response. Health emergency responders need to effectively communicate and engage with affected communities, and communities at risk, if they are to win their trust.

Having this trust is crucial not just to persuading communities to adopt protective behaviours (e.g. hand hygiene, distancing, masking) but also to winning their support for interventions such as contact tracing, isolation of cases or vaccination.