The Politics of Emerging Infectious Disease

Presented by John Rainford

Director, Emergency Risk Communication,

Public health Agency of Canada

June 2013

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H5N1

SARS H1N1

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“Politics is who gets what, when, and how”

Harold Lasswell

Health Emergencies are Political

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Understanding Stakeholders Perspectives

What do they know?

What might they misunderstand?

Who do they trust?

Decision-Makers are stakeholders – why don’t we try to understand them?

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“If you want to persuade me, think my thoughts, feel my feelings and speak my words.”

Cicero

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Political Crisis Comms VS Health Emergency Comms

• Discuss uncertainty, even mistakes

• Empathize with dissenting views

• Focus on how risk is perceived

• Signal strength and control

• Challenge arguments of dissenting views

• Focus on how political actors are perceived

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Advocacyschool.org

• To effectively engage political representatives and leaders you have to understand:

• Public policy context

• Positioning

• Process

• Precedent

• PoliticsPOLIO

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Effective Leader Engagement during Health Emergencies

• Brief broadly – public health+++

• Share stakeholder intelligence

• Demonstrate how consequences will be managed

• Give leaders an opportunity to LEAD