Arab Official Efforts to Raise Awareness of COVID-19: The Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Model in the UAE

(Rahima Aissani)

---

Abstract

This study aims to identify the contents of crisis communication used by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to raise awareness of the dangers of coronavirus (COVID-19) and reduce its spread in three phases – preparation, initial and maintenance – following the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication model. The study implemented content analysis for three elements from the crisis and risk communication components introduced by the UAE government. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic crisis, the UAE government quickly drew up a national plan to deal with the crisis under the leadership of the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) and the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP). In the maintenance phase, it relied on a number of means to raise awareness of coronavirus and prevent its spread; these included press conferences, periodic media briefings, awareness campaigns, community-based initiatives, and electronic publications on official websites of the NCEMA and the MOHAP. It also provided diverse, honest, accurate and detailed crisis communication to explain the crisis. All the UAE government's communication content provided a variety of rich information on the new coronavirus. This helped to deal with the crisis efficiently and effectively and contributed to raising community awareness and highlighting the health system's ability to investigate and follow up in a timely manner.


KEYWORDS
Government communication, media briefings, awareness campaigns, CERC model, UAE Ministry of Health, emergency and crisis management

PDF

References

Albayan News. (2020). Al'iimarat Tuasis Munsha'atan Tibiyatan Liaistieab Musabi Kwrwna fi Halat Altawari Alealamia. The UAE Establishes a Medical Facility to Accommodate Coronavirus Patients in the Event of a Global Emergency. Available at: https://bit.ly/2NjKhyD (Accessed on 06/12/2020) [in Arabic].
Alkhuli, A. (2020). Muhamad Bin Rashid Yutliq "Hmlat Shukra… Khit Difaeina Al'awl” Daemaan Likawadir Alqitae Alsihiyi. Mohammed bin Rashid Launches the "Thank You Campaign... Our First Line of Defense" in Support of the Health Sector Cadres’. Available at: https://bit.ly/2OvErux (Accessed on 06/12/2020) [in Arabic].
Andrade, E.L., Barrett, N.D., Edberg, M.C., Rivera, M.I., Latinovic, L., Seeger, M.W., Goldman-Hawes, A. and Santos-Burgoa, C. (2020). Mortality reporting and rumor generation: An assessment of crisis and emergency risk communication following hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research, 3(1), 15–48. DOI: 10.30658/jicrcr.3.1.2
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US). (2019). CERC: Psychology of a Crisis. Available at: https://bit.ly/38FkPL8 (Accessed on 12/10/2020).
Covello, V.T., Peters, R.G., Wojtecki, J.G. and Hyde, R.C. (2001). Risk communication, the west Nile virus epidemic, and bioterrorism: Responding to the communication challenges posed by the intentional or unintentional release of a pathogen in an urban setting. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 78(n/a), 382–391.
Ducharme, J. (2020). News Coverage of Coronavirus in 2020 is Very Different than it was for Ebola in 2018. Time. Available at: https://bit.ly/3rRFumQ (accessed on 6/12/2020).
Emirates News Agency. (2020). UAE Government Media Briefings on COVID-19. Available at: https://bit.ly/3qKjqJK (accessed on 12/10/2020).
Garfin, D.R., Silver, R.C. and Holman, E.A. (2020). The novel coronavirus (COVID-2019) outbreak: Amplification of public health consequences by media exposure. Health Psychology, 39(5), 355–357. DOI: 10.1037/hea0000875
Hagen, L., Neely, S., Scharf, R. and Keller, T.E. (2020). Social media use for crisis and emergency risk communications during the Zika health crisis. Digital Government: Research and Practice, 1(2), 1–13. DOI: 10.1145/3372021
Hinjoy, S., Tsukayamaa, R., Chuxnumb, T., Masunglonga, W., Sideta, C., Kleeblumjeaka, P., Onsaia, N. and Iamsirithawornc, S. (2020). Self-assessment of the Thai Department of Disease Control's communication for international response to COVID-19 in the early phase. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 96(n/a), 205–210. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.04.042
Lwin, M.O., Lu, J., Sheldenkar, A. and Schulz, P.J. (2018). Strategic uses of Facebook in Zika outbreak communication: Implications for the crisis and emergency risk communication model. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(9), 1974–1993. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15091974
Ministry of Education of United Arab Emirates. (2020). Ministry of Education Launches "Sanadcom" Initiative for the Children of Healthcare Personnel Nationwide. Available at: https://bit.ly/3s0EJs1 (Accessed on 06/12/2020).
Ministry of Health and Prevention of United Arab Emirates. (2014). The Federal Law No. (14) of 2014 Stipulates that Individuals Shall Receive Vaccination and Immunization Against Communicable Seasonal Diseases. Available at: https://bit.ly/3rNTwG1 (Accessed on 06/12/2020).
Ministry of Health and Prevention of United Arab Emirates. (2020a). COVID-19 Information Center. Available at: https://bit.ly/3cAOaaO (accessed on 06/12/2020).
Ministry of Health and Prevention of United Arab Emirates. (2020b). Federal Law No. (14) of 2014 Concerning the Prevention of Communicable Diseases. Available at: https://bit.ly/3rMRTss (accessed on 06/12/2020).
Ministry of Health and Prevention of United Arab Emirates. (2020c). General Tips. Available at: https://bit.ly/3cBephD (accessed on 06/12/2020).
Ministry of Health and Prevention of United Arab Emirates. (2020d). Health Care Facilities. Available at: https://bit.ly/3eDITCf (accessed on 06/12/2020).
National Program for Happiness and Wellbeing. (2020). La_Tchelon_Ham (Don’t Worry) Campaign. Available at: https://bit.ly/3vslaLk (accessed on 06/12/2020).
Nour, M., Alhajri, M., Elmoubasher A.B., Farag, A., Al-Romaih, H.E., Al-Thani, M., Al-Marri, S., and Savoia, E. (2017). How do the first days count? A case study of Qatar experience in emergency risk communication during the MERS-COV outbreak. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(12), 1597–1613. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph14121597
Ophir, Y. (2018). Coverage of epidemics in American newspapers through the lens of the crisis and emergency risk communication framework. Health Security, 16(3), 147–157. DOI: 10.1089/hs.2017.0106
Reynolds, B. (2002). Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication. Atlanta, Georgia: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Reynolds, B. and Seeger, M. (2005). Crisis and emergency risk communication as an integrative model. Journal of Health Communication, 10(n/a), 43–55. DOI: 10.1080/10810730590904571
Seeger, M.W. (2006). Best practices in crisis communication: An expert panel process. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 34(3), 232–244. DOI: 10.1080/00909880600769944
Sharjah Government Media Bureau. (2020). GreaterThanCorona Campaign from Sharjah to the World Calls for Uniting Community Efforts and Responsibility. Available at: https://bit.ly/3rPw6QD (accessed on 06/12/2020).
Small, W. (1991). Exxon Valdez: How to spend billions and still get a black eye. Public Relations Review, 17(1), 9–26.
The Cabinet of the United Arab Emirates. (2020). United Arab Emirates National Agenda. Available at: https://bit.ly/3tjwbfN (accessed on 6/12/2020).
The World Health Organization. (2020). Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic. Available at: https://bit.ly/3lg0UaO (accessed on 02/11/2020).
Wieland, M.L., Asiedu, G.B., Lantz, K., Abbenyi, A., Njeru, J.W., Osman, A., Goodson, M., Ahmed, Y., Molina, L.E., Doubeni, C.A. and Sia, I.G. (2020). Leveraging community engaged research partnerships for crisis and emergency risk communication to vulnerable populations in the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Clinical and Translational Sciences, n/a(n/a), 1–5. DOI: 10.1017/cts.2020.47
Wray, R., Kreuter, M., Jacobsen, H., Clements, B. and Evans, R.G. (2004). Theoretical perspectives on public communication preparedness for terrorist attacks. Journal of Family and Community Health, 27(n/a), 324–343.