Event highlights
17 May 2024
Technical Advisory Group backs WHO in positioning RCCE-IM as an evidence-based health intervention in emergencies
WHO is working with academic researchers and expert practitioners from across the European Region to position risk communication, community engagement and infodemic management (RCCE-IM) as an evidence-based public health intervention. Since the emergence of COVID-19, RCCE-IM has gained increasing recognition as a life-saving approach, serving as a bridge between health service delivery and community access. However, to fulfil this role effectively, RCCE-IM interventions must be grounded in evidence.
Just a year on from its establishment, the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on RCCE-IM in the WHO European Region is already playing a pivotal role in assisting WHO with the development of evidence-based RCCE-IM interventions throughout the emergency cycle. Additionally, it is advocating for increased investment in this critical area.
Opening the TAG’s third plenary meeting on 17 April 2024, Dr Gundo Weiler, WHO Regional Emergency Director for Europe, ad interim, applauded its work: “Since being inaugurated by the WHO Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, in 2023, this Group has advised WHO/Europe on critical areas such as health literacy, research, capacity-building, artificial intelligence and emergency response operations. What is truly impressive is the extent to which its members have not only provided advice, but also been proactive in helping us implement it”.
Dr Weiler noted that TAG members have actively supported the Regional Office to position RCCE-IM as an evidence-based discipline at a number of advocacy events. TAG members have also participated as experts in WHO technical missions to countries and organized scientific conferences and events themselves.
Cristiana Salvi, Regional Advisor on RCCE-IM at WHO/Europe, had the vision to establish the first-ever TAG on RCCE-IM in 2023. Speaking at the meeting she said: “WHO’s first-ever RCCE-IM TAG has significantly elevated this vital work to a life-saving, evidence-based public health intervention, at the forefront of all emergency efforts. We are learning together how to do good quality, rapid, operational research to ensure our RCCE-IM interventions are effective and sustainable. However, there are still many barriers to RCCE-IM practitioners and researchers working together. We therefore decided to address these barriers as our key priority for 2024”.
The Chair of the TAG, Laura Woodward, Head of Risk Communication and Emergencies at the United Kingdom Health Security Agency commented: “The strength of the TAG is that it brings together RCCE-IM practitioners and researchers from countries ranging from Portugal to Kyrgyzstan to share evidence, knowledge and innovation. It is uniquely well positioned to advise on how practitioners and researchers can come together to produce good quality, rapid research, how to apply it in real-world scenarios and how to communicate this effectively to decision-makers”.
Professor Rui Gaspar, Associate Professor at Lusófona University said: “Fighting infodemics, engaging communities and communicating risk effectively, all grounded in scientific evidence, saves lives. That is why I find being part of the TAG so valuable, and it is why I am proud that Lusófona University was willing to support the TAG’s work by hosting its meeting here in Lisbon”.
The TAG met on 16–18 April 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal. On 16 April, there was a training workshop for TAG members on the WHO/Europe RCCE-IM Plan Creator and Capability Mapping tools; on 17–18 April, the TAG met in plenary. Both meetings were organized with the financial assistance of the European Union and both were hosted by Lusófona University. Participants came from 16 countries across the European Region.
Event notice
16 April 2024
The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Risk Communication, Community Engagement and Infodemic Management (RCCE-IM) in the WHO European Region was inaugurated by Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe on 26 April 2023, and over the last 12 months has played a key role in positioning this vital work as a life-saving, evidence-based public health intervention, at the forefront of all emergency efforts. It advises WHO/Europe on critical areas such as health literacy, research, capacity-building, artificial intelligence and emergency response operations.
The third meeting of the TAG has been organized with the financial assistance of the European Union and will be hosted by the Universidade Lusófona - Centro Universitário Lisboa in Lisbon, Portugal. RCCE-IM TAG members from 17 different countries across the WHO European Region, as well as observers from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and WHO headquarters, will attend the meeting. They include practitioners from national public health institutes and civil society organizations, as well as academics and researchers.
The training of trainers will empower TAG members to play a hands-on role in supporting WHO’s RCCE-IM capacity-building actions across the European Region, while plenary discussions will advise WHO on a range of issue from reinforcing the evidence base for RCCE-IM, to best practice in message pre-testing, infodemic management alliances and tools to co-design interventions with communities.
Note: This article was amended on 17 April 2024 to correct a typo in the name of Lusófona University.