Egypt
Communication Response to Avian Influenza in Egypt
Activity Dates
2005-2007
Activity Summary
 Within hours of the confirmation of the first cases of the H5N1 “Avian Influenza” (AI) virus in Egypt on February 17, 2006, all the major state-owned television channels were airing an informative TV spot showing families how to protect themselves from the deadly virus. The Communication for Healthy Living (CHL) Project, whose core partners include the Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) and the Ministry of Information/State Information Service (MOI/SIS), worked well before any outbreak, under the “Your Health Is Your Wealth” Program, to develop an integrated package of communication interventions. Their goal was to develop a quick, unified and effective response to any outbreak. As a result of this concerted effort, which included broadcast and print materials as well as community outreach activities, 86 percent of the adult population—an estimated 38 million people—were able to recall messages from the campaign. Seventy-eight percent of those—nearly 30 million people—reported taking at least one protective action, including avoiding contact with birds, keeping children and the elderly away from poultry, and washing their hands and utensils more carefully after preparing poultry.
Addressing AI in the Egyptian context required identifying specific messages for specific audiences. The communication response was organized to address health, agricultural, and environmental sectors. For example, poultry is a very important source of income for many families—especially rural—in Egypt. 29.4% of the population own poultry in Egypt. On average, income from poultry represents 13 to 14% of the household’s total monthly income. Approximately ¼ of the households owning poultry fall into the Highest Vulnerable Population (the poorest groups). Pre-testing of preliminary avian flu communication materials showed that rural groups as well as the general public wanted more information on signs of flu in poultry and its means of control, necessitating a coordination of messages emanating from the MOHP and SIS with those of the Agricultural Sector.
 Egypt has a sophisticated communication environment, with access to print, Internet, and broadcast technology, as well as extensive networks of outreach workers in the government, NGO, and private sector. These form both the main communication channels and the responsible parties for implementing the strategy. A unified strategic approach helps to ensure that all campaign interventions are easily identified, have consistent messages or a clear relationship if coming from multiple sectors, and are credible for each stage of epidemic prevalence. Among the wide range of interventions are TV, radio and press announcements, GOE website support, hotline promotion, press inserts, press briefings and journalist training, provider fact-sheets, and consumer fliers, posters and other information materials.
In addition to the initial TV spot with general information on modes of transmission of AI and basic preventive measures, CHL collaborated on the production of three other TV spots on AI with more specific messages on modes of transmission, hygiene and safe preparation of poultry for consumption, safe handling of live poultry, keeping children safe, and promoting a national AI hotline. The AI hotline received close to 300,000 calls in the first three months. In addition, CHL produced a public service announcement (PSA) on AI as a joint activity with Alam Simsim as part of CHL’s private sector pharmacy development program, with special messages on keeping children safe from exposure. These spots were aired regionally via satellite.
Fliers with messages on AI prevention and protection for families with and without poultry were produced and in distribution prior to the outbreak via channels such as the MOHP’s 5000+ clinics, outreach workers from the government and NGOs, and the national “Ask, Consult” network of 13,000 private pharmacies. The materials are available to download on via the SIS-IEC Center database on the CHL website (www.healthcom-egypt.info), and are a valuable resource for other Arabic-speaking countries facing Avian Influenza. Newspapers and magazines reprinted hundreds of thousands more as inserts, and continue to cooperate in efforts to spread public awareness on AI.
In addition, volunteers in CHL’s community programs organized to address the AI threat in their villages, holding meetings in homes to disseminate AI health messages and setting up committees to screen all the houses breeding domestic birds and to close shops that sold live birds. Pharmacies, often the front-line health service delivery venue for the majority of Egyptians, have also proved to be a critical source of public information on AI, and 30,000 informational posters were delivered to Ask-Consult network pharmacies, to be posted on storefronts. Hundreds of thousands of AI flyers for providers and consumers were also distributed to Ask-Consult pharmacists.
 Capacity building of communication professionals, emergency crews, and service providers has been operating parallel to public awareness activities. A workshop for journalists was held in May 2006 aimed at raising and maintaining awareness of the risks of AI among the public, and countering misinformation and rumors. In collaboration with the MOHP, and CHL produced a training video for the emergency crews the government has mobilized to collect and properly dispose of infected and dead birds from farms. The video covers safety procedures for protecting the team members themselves, and for containing the virus. A program of orientation workshops and trainings for service providers throughout the country began in May, supported by a booklet. In-clinic seminars on AI for the general public were conducted immediately following these seminars at 3500 MOHP health units. A Q&A booklet based on questions received via the MOHP AI Hotline was distributed as insert in several popular newspapers and magazines. A booklet for use in trainings and orientations is also being produced.
The SIS chairman serves as the official spokesperson on AI in Egypt, and is committed to transparency in outbreak communication. CHL provided the SIS with content for their AI media center and website (http://birdflu.sis.gov.eg/html/index.htm) to facilitate timely access to official information. CHL will continue to work with national and international partners in Egypt to meet the challenges that lie ahead in communicating about the risks of AI, reducing misinformation, providing prevention information and promoting the safe behaviors that will protect the health of Egypt’s people.
Publications
Materials
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Note about materials: Some of the materials and resources listed on each page are available in their full form, others are represented by image or citation only. For more information and resources, go to www.jhuccp.org
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