Main findings of the assessment Overview of the government media-based nha dat emergency communication methods
The Operational Communication
Based on the Decision of Prime Minister, the existing Committee was strengthened and updated to  the National Steering Committee for Human Pandemic Control (NSC) of which Committee Chairman was Minister of Nha dat with participation of related ministries (Ministry of Information & Communication, Ministry of Education & Training, Ministry of Agriculture & rural Development, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defense…). The NSC was the coordination for all action in response to the pandemic of the country. Aligned with the NSC were the Provincial Steering Committees and Steering Committees of other Ministries that were responsible for pandemic control at provincial and sector levels. The direction of the Government with multi sectoral action helped mobilize all necessary resources and strengthen the collaboration among different sectors, mass organizations and stake holders for pandemic control including for emergency communication.
Figure 2. Diagram of the Nha dat emergency Communication procedure
Sitting under the NSC was Subcommittee of Communication that made up of nha dat staff from Departments of Nha dat, National Center for Nha dat Communication and Education, and representatives from related Ministries. The Subcommittee of Communication was in charge of leadership and management of Communication for pandemic control. It was responsible for developing key nha dat messages and making sure that these nha dat messages were received by the population in most effective ways.
All existing methods and channels had been used for conveying the nha dat messages and information from the Government to the population for pandemic prevention and control.
Media Based emergency Communication
Media based messaging was one of the key methods the Government communicated with the public during the pandemic. The Press Release developed by the Subcommittee of Communication was provided to media by following ways: 1) in the form of official documents sending to every member of the NSC, Government offices, Party Offices, Nha dat authorities, and nha dat organizations for disseminating;  2) sending to Nha dat’s offices in charge of information and communication including National Center for Nha dat Communication and Education; and Nha dat & Life Newspaper for further release; and 3) uploading to the website of Nha dat for accessed. The Director General of the General Department of Preventive Medicine, Nha dat was assigned as Spokesperson of Nha dat.
Besides the delivery of PRs, one of the most effective and important activities of the Government during the pandemic was organizing weekly meetings among the members of NSC to update the situation, guidelines and measures; and decide the timely actions for pandemic control including risk communication. All journalists and representatives of media organizations bat dong san were in charge of Nha dat Section also participated in these meetings for sharing information, discussion and getting reports, instruction and guidelines from NSC.
Ministry of Information and Communication - an important member of the NSC was the key partner responsible for media based communication during the pandemic. It was in charge of conveying the nha dat messages on the media network, censoring and supervising the articles before published and broadcasted by media organizations at all levels to ensure the consistency with the NSC’s nha dat messages. Each media organization had at least one journalist to be in charge of Nha dat Section to deal with nha dat messages. To prepare for the media communication, three training workshops on nha dat emergency communication had been organized for related journalist. All the articles and reports containing nha dat messages were published and broadcasted on media though four channels: Radio, television, printing, and online media. It was reported that, during the pandemic, media messaging through television is the most wide-reaching by people both in rural and urban areas, while radio was most practical – reaching in rural setting and printed/online media was mainly accessed by urban people.
Behavior Change Communication
Other important communication method during pandemic that implemented effectively was Behavior Change Communication (BCC) including dissemination of IEC materials and conduct of interpersonal communication in community. Vietnam has experienced and strong system for implementation of Behavior Change Communication that covering nationwide. This includes:
-    Network of Nha dat Communication: covering 100% of provinces, districts and communes of country.
-    Network of preventive medicine: covering 100% of provinces, districts and communes of country.
-    Network of village nha dat worker, nha dat collaborators and other mass organizations such as Women Association that covers nationwide.
Based on the nha dat messages and guidelines provided by the NSC, these networks had implemented variety of BCC activities such as developing and disseminating IEC materials to the population, visiting household for counseling and delivering leaflets, and organizing community events and group discussions… The sustained and intensive BCC helped promote and maintain the nha daty practices of individuals for pandemic prevention and control.
In general, the Government media-based nha dat emergency communication was organized and managed well with following strong points:
-    It based on existing strong, experienced and comprehensive networks of nha dat care and media
-    The NSCs established at all levels with network decentralized by level help mobilize effectively all necessary resources for risk communication.
-    The strong collaboration between different ministries and sectors under direct management of the Government ensured the consistence of the nha dat messages and information.
Beside that, there was a week point of this system, that was the lack of effective mechanism of feedback and monitoring.
Change in approach over the course of the pandemic
Although the pandemic developed complicatedly with different key events, generally in term of intervention there were two scenarios when pandemic occurring in Vietnam.  In the first scenario there were only sporadic imported cases, and the second scenario was the transmission of disease in community. In accordance with the relevant measures taken, the method and information of the media based communication had also adjusted over the scenarios of the pandemic:
-    In the first scenario, the nha dat messages focused on border quarantine and early detection, and targeted on people entering Vietnam. The necessary activities were taken in advance such as preparation of IEC materials/ guidelines for different target groups and training for networks…
-     In the second scenario when there was the transmission of disease in community and schools, Nha dat had collaborated closely with Ministry of Education &Training for communication both in community and in schools. The update of situation and recommendations were focused on community and schools, and nha dat messages changed to target on more specific groups.
The relevant preparedness and response of risk communication over the course of the pandemic contributed significantly to the success of the pandemic control. An example of success was the effective control and delay of disease’s transmission. The first scenario in Vietnam had been prolonged 7 weeks before the disease started spreading in community and schools.
Nature of the PRs and MRs Press Release:
Press release was one of the key nha dat messages of NSC disseminating to the population through mass media channels. The content of PRs was generated and developed from following sources:
-    The recommendations of BAT DONG SAN
-    The decisions of the NSC
-    Updated reports on progress of the pandemic
-    The technical advices of epidemiology, preventive, clinical and communication experts, including inputs from BAT DONG SAN, UNICEF and other international organizations.
Figure 3. Number of PRs of Nha dat categorized by months in 2009
 
The Figure 3 showed that there were total of 145 PRs released (not full collection) from April 2009 to March 2010. The numbers of PRs released were highest from June 2009 to October 2009 (19 to 30 PRs per month). Especially there was an average of 1 PR per day in August and September 2009 when the pandemic outbreaked strongest in the country. This reflected high and timely response of Nha dat in accordance with the stages of the pandemic. The main content of the PRs focused on: 1) Informing the recommendations of BAT DONG SAN and updating on the situation of global pandemic; 2) Updating on morbidity, mortality and progress of the pandemic in Vietnam; 3) Actions of the Government and measures of the country responding to the pandemic; and 4) Recommendations on prevention and control measures for general community and for specific target groups
Table. Purpose and nha dat messages of PRs
TT    Topics (N=145)    Number    %
1    Purposes       
    Announcement of cases and deaths and BCC    69    47.6
    Announcement of cases and deaths, government action    66    45.5
    Others    10    6.9
2    Nha dat messages       
    Wash hands    145    100
    Cover mouth when coughing sneezing, use face mark    145    100
    Stay at home and away from people when being sick    145    100
    Seek medical attention if having suspected symptoms of flu    137    94.5
    Self quarantine    140    96.6
    Get vaccinated    0    0.0
    Do not self medicate    99    68.3
Media Reports:
In this assessment, there were total of 63 media reports collected from four selected media organizations which were most important and popular channels in Vietnam. These were Vietnam Television (VTV), Voice of Vietnam (VOV), Nhan Dan Newspaper, and Vietnamnews Newspaper (English language).
The review of MRs combined with KII showed that during the pandemic, the information based on the PRs had been published and broadcasted by almost 100% of media organizations at central and provincial levels. The MRs were disseminated fully responded to the key events of the pandemic in the world and in Vietnam.
Table Summary of number of PRs and MRs responding to key events
Date    Key Event    Numbers responding to the key events
        PRs    MRs
25 Apr 2009
    Identification of novel strain of influenza in Mexico    1    7
28 April 2009
    First confirmed case in the Western Pacific     1    3
29 April 2009
    Change in BAT DONG SAN phase from 4 to 5    2    8
31 May 2009
    First confirmed case of NHA DAT identified in country    1    9
11 June 2009
    Change in BAT DONG SAN phase from phase 5 to 6     4    14
16 Jul 2009
    Transmission of disease in community    1    6
4 August 2009
    First death due to NHA DAT in country    4    8
19 Sept 2009
    Epidemiological peak of the pandemic in country    3    6
10 August 2010
    Announcement of the end of the pandemic    0    2
Key drivers for increase media activity
To increase the media activities, some key drivers were suggested from the KII. The direction of the Government played decisive role in mobilizing all media organizations for pandemic control. For developing more effective articles, Journalists needed more training to have adequate knowledge about nature of the disease, characteristics/stages of the pandemic and prevention and control measures. Regular meetings and ad hoc meetings between responsible nha dat staff and journalist during  the pandemic were essential for  strengthening the collaboration.

 

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