WHO/UNICEF/FAO - Communication for behavioural impact (COMBI)

Behavioural and social interventions have become an essential component of efforts to mitigate the effects of outbreaks, because many interventions rely heavily on community engagement, participation and ownership and on intersectoral coordination and collaboration for prevention, control and mitigation strategies to work. Central to this shift in approach is the commitment to integrated, technically sound strategies that include effective health communication in outbreak control objectives.

Experts have come to realize that community understanding of diseases and their spread is complex, context-dependent and culturally mediated. Integration of participatory approaches into veterinary and public health responses are essential to look in the right places, ask the right questions and listen more effectively before making technical recommendations and implementing interventions.

Communication is central to this notion. It is a process that promotes dialogue among all the people involved in outbreak prevention and response, at the centre of which are affected communities and people at risk. This process can ultimately help strengthen relationships, build trust and enhance transparency among all those working towards averting or bringing an outbreak to an end.

The message that this toolkit carries is important. It challenges all those concerned to be proactive, to seek information and insights in a planned, systematic process, informed by evidence, effective models and good practice. It encourages the transformation of this understanding into meaningful interventions, grounded in local realities and is relevant for all those involved in outbreak preparedness and response.