January 30, 2007
GUEST BLOGGER: Kara Santos (WFS Philippines)
Recently, I've been involved in a series of workshops on Avian Influenza (or bird flu) reporting for print journalists. The workshops funded by UNICEF and organized by the Philippine Press Institute (PPI) were held in Cebu (for Visayas), San Fernando, Pampanga (for Luzon and NCR) and Davao (for Mindanao).
Aside from an overview on what the media should know about the disease - signs in infected birds, symptoms in humans, preventive measures - one of the major sessions in the workshop was "tooling the journalist" to report responsibly and accurately on bird flu.
Because the Philippines remains one of three ASEAN countries that is still "bird flu-free" (along with Singapore and Brunei), the general public is largely unconcerned about the issue.
Mary Grace Agoncillo, UNICEF Consultant for the "Stay Bird Flu Free Philippines" campaign says that "Filipinos have a tendency to believe they can get through anything." Since we were unaffected by SARS, and have remained bird flu free (so far), popular belief is that we are generally more resistant than our neighboring nations who have had outbreaks.
But while we have been fortunate so far, we can not remain complacent. If the H5N1 strain of the avian influenza mutates to a form that can easily pass from human to human, it could potentially wipe out millions, with children being the most at risk.
Thus, UNICEF has turned to media to help in the wide information campaign to the public.
The challenge however is to use simple but powerful messages to convey the correct information. Because of the urgency of the matter, media people need to "Get it first, get it fast, and GET IT RIGHT."
This is not as easy as it sounds because, "too soft a warning just won't get heard" (or won't get published in the newspaper) but "too loud a warning could provoke unnecessary public fear and economic damage."
One example is the bird flu scare in Bacolod, a province known for chicken inasal and fighting cocks. In 2005, a fake text message circulated, warning people against eating chicken because a migratory bird was found positive for bird flu. The widespread paranoia caused a loss of P1.2 M daily to Bacolod before the hoax was exposed.
To prevent such a scenario for happening again, media experts and journalists (including Yvonne Chua and Rachel Khan of the University of the Philippines) give some tips for journalists covering bird flu:
Key messages that UNICEF would like media people to highlight are:
* Stay away from sick or dying birds.
* Report incidence of sickness and death.
* Separate healthy from sick/dying birds.
* Wash your hands properly.
* Cook poultry products well.
Learn more about bird flu:
Department of Health
Department of Agriculture
World Health Organization
Food and Agriculture Organization
World Organization for Animal Health
Pandemicflu.gov
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Association for Health Care Journalists
Recently, I've been involved in a series of workshops on Avian Influenza (or bird flu) reporting for print journalists. The workshops funded by UNICEF and organized by the Philippine Press Institute (PPI) were held in Cebu (for Visayas), San Fernando, Pampanga (for Luzon and NCR) and Davao (for Mindanao).
Aside from an overview on what the media should know about the disease - signs in infected birds, symptoms in humans, preventive measures - one of the major sessions in the workshop was "tooling the journalist" to report responsibly and accurately on bird flu.
Because the Philippines remains one of three ASEAN countries that is still "bird flu-free" (along with Singapore and Brunei), the general public is largely unconcerned about the issue.
Mary Grace Agoncillo, UNICEF Consultant for the "Stay Bird Flu Free Philippines" campaign says that "Filipinos have a tendency to believe they can get through anything." Since we were unaffected by SARS, and have remained bird flu free (so far), popular belief is that we are generally more resistant than our neighboring nations who have had outbreaks.
But while we have been fortunate so far, we can not remain complacent. If the H5N1 strain of the avian influenza mutates to a form that can easily pass from human to human, it could potentially wipe out millions, with children being the most at risk.
Thus, UNICEF has turned to media to help in the wide information campaign to the public.
The challenge however is to use simple but powerful messages to convey the correct information. Because of the urgency of the matter, media people need to "Get it first, get it fast, and GET IT RIGHT."
This is not as easy as it sounds because, "too soft a warning just won't get heard" (or won't get published in the newspaper) but "too loud a warning could provoke unnecessary public fear and economic damage."
One example is the bird flu scare in Bacolod, a province known for chicken inasal and fighting cocks. In 2005, a fake text message circulated, warning people against eating chicken because a migratory bird was found positive for bird flu. The widespread paranoia caused a loss of P1.2 M daily to Bacolod before the hoax was exposed.
To prevent such a scenario for happening again, media experts and journalists (including Yvonne Chua and Rachel Khan of the University of the Philippines) give some tips for journalists covering bird flu:
- Don't spread myths. Debunk them and help educate the public
- Distinguish bird flu from pandemic flu and ordinary flu
- Distinguish where the risk is high and where it is low
- Be candid and emphatic about the human risk of bird flu. But don't mislead public;
- Do not to say that officials are "in panic" (unless they truly are)
- Remember the disadvantaged (poor, children, high risk groups)
Key messages that UNICEF would like media people to highlight are:
* Stay away from sick or dying birds.
* Report incidence of sickness and death.
* Separate healthy from sick/dying birds.
* Wash your hands properly.
* Cook poultry products well.
Learn more about bird flu:
Department of Health
Department of Agriculture
World Health Organization
Food and Agriculture Organization
World Organization for Animal Health
Pandemicflu.gov
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Association for Health Care Journalists
