Lhss presentation internews_kg_january_2021

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Sars-Cov-2 Risk Communication,
Kyrgyzstan
Local Health System
Sustainability Project
January 28, 2021
Presenters: Zhanna Shegay, Internews Network

2. 2
Internews & LHSS
• Internews Mission: Internews empowers people worldwide with the
trustworthy, high-quality news and information they need to make informed
decisions, participate in their communities, and hold power to account.
• Current LHSS implementations in Colombia and Kyrgyzstan
• Internews’ core areas of work include:
o Information EcosystemApproach to Community Engagement in Health
o Risk Communication and Community Engagement to increase access to
trustworthy health information
o Public Health Communication and JournalismTrainings andTechnical
Assistance to increase the production of trustworthy health information
o Strengthening Information and Communication Strategies
o Data Journalism to Influence Health Policy and Investments
o Harnessing Community Members to Create Health RumorTracking
Systems and Combat Misinformation
o Strengthening Public Systems for Country Stewardship,Transparency, &
Accountability

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Country Context
• Population 6.4 mln.
• 42% of population 0-20 years old.
• Av. 5 people per household.
• ¼ lives on less than 1.3 usd per day.
• Migrants’ remittances = 1/3 of GDP.
• Government takeovers: 2005, 2010, 2020.
• TV coverage 97%.
• Internet penetration 47%.
• Facebook 610K.
• Youtube 3 mln.
• Twitter 60K.
• Instagram, 2.1 mln.

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Sars-Cov-2 Context
• Lack of medical, food provision. Limited
medical capacity (551 ICU in the country)
• Lack of PPE for medical personnel.
• 200 public communication messages.
• Volunteers and international organizations
took the lead.
Government:
• Suppressed the media, volunteers and
medical workers.
• Prepared for elections. Latter followed by
protests and government takeover.
• Corruption.
People:
• Distrust to the system.
• Activated self-treatment protocols.
• Misinformation flood.
• Rise of suicides, violence.

5. Risk communication challenge
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Ask people, disappointed by the system, to change their behavior
and beliefs around the topic people are not interested in.
Solution:
• Community engagement (bloggers, singers, sport-celebrities,
activists, community activists).
• Integration of Covid information into non-Covid topics.
• Finding beauty in this turmoil (poems, music, lyrics, style, new
traditions).
• Positive role modeling. No directives and restrictions.

6. Risk communication products
1. 70 production products
PandemicTaskforce. Quality of content.
1. Public Service announcement
2. Online engagement campaign
3. Online programs& livestreams
4. TV programs
5. TV Series
2. Capacity Building Ministry of
Healthcare
1. Data management
2. How to create video in “red
zones”
3. Speechwriting&Public speaking
3. Combatting misinformation.
Factcheck
1. 100 publications
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Communication priorities planning
Important Very important Critical
Important
Very
important
Critical
Grieving
With
symptoms
Recovered
Susceptible
adults /
caregivers
Public health and system perception
Public health / prevention
Healthcare
system
perception
Susceptible
adolescents

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Communication priorities planning

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Villages. New time, - new traditions

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Villages. New time, - new traditions

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Youth.New time, - new style

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Little kids. Santa got sick. Send advice.

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Little kids.What’s going on?

14. Capacity building MoH
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Challenge: data is not issued to media, media and civil activists are
suppressed, no trust to the system.
Solution:
• Data management importance to build relationship with media.
• Video content production for social media to inform about
Moh activities. Supplies.
• Speechwriting to communicate better.
• Public speaking to communicate better.

15. Misinformation factcheck
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• Remedies with no proven effectiveness.
• Misinformation from government officials (Minister of
Healthcare,Vice-prime minister, epidemiologists, etc.
• Social media discussions.
Impact:
• Decrease of misinformation cases over time.
• Unlicensed activity check by MoH.

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Results
• More than 1.4 mln online reach (every 3rd internet user).
• Distribution on 20+TV channels with 97% coverage.
• Fostered behavior change.
• Focused on social meaning of the pandemic.
• Niche audiences. Unique language.
• Endorsement of celebrities, bloggers, government officials,
professional communities.

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Challenges
• Highly censored public and stateTV channels.
• Lack of cross-sectoral coordination. Repetitive, generic activities. Unhealthy
competition among some implementors.
• Political turbulence (government takeover, elections, investigations, officials
turnover).
• Uncertainty in Covid Surge, scientific information.
• Monitoring of all communication activities.
• “Listening” of the audience discussions.
• Coordination efforts. Position of neutrality.
• Reliable partners.Value driven.
• Community engagement.
• Non-medical communication.
Solution

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Inclusive approach
• Women empowerment:
• MoH Trainees are women.
• Leading protagonists.
• TV series – transformation of stigmas.
• Values promotion by hosts.
• Content for Deaf (subtitles).
• Language minorities – Uzbek in addition to Kyrgyz and Russian.
• Children - equal partners in the campaign. Decision makers and
wisdom spreaders.

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Thank you