A MMLAP (Mobilization and Mutual Learning Action Plan) Area has been activated within the Community of Practice of the ASSET website: this area is planned to stimulate the debate between the ASSET consortium and other MMLAP projects on the Best practices to develop and implement the communication between science and society.
For a country, being ready to face an infectious disease outbreak requires, among other things, the capability to reach and involve all the components of the society. Especially those that are more exposed to health threats due to low quality housing, poor nutrition, lack of parental education and weak links to health services, as it happened in the 2010 measles epidemic in Bulgaria, where 90% of recorded cases occurred within the so-called Roma community.
The report published in March 2015 by Medecins sans frontières speaks out clearly against the “global coalition of inaction” and the “vacuum of leadership” in the Ebola crisis in West Africa. Those who were struggling in the field against a huge and out-of-control emergency, without the necessary resources, list the main causes of such a situation: lack of political will, inexperience, and, sometimes, simply fear.
Epidemics may spread fast and since we are constantly improving our transportation possibilities, virus and bacteria are taking advantage of that. For centuries, harbours have been critical junctions through which diseases moved and diffused, and this led to the construction of specific buildings to isolate those who were sick or suspected of being infected. Nowadays we also have airports and much more persons moving all around the world, increasing the potential spread of infectious agents.
One of the ASSET’s purposes is to develop its approach on different levels, from the global to the local one. This will include both the analysis of specific experiences and the production of new initiatives. According to this aim, the Bulgarian National Center of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (NCIPD) has just released the Local Communication Plan for Bulgaria, which is a complement of the Communication Strategy of the ASSET project.
The ASSET Communication Strategy consists of a general strategy, drafted for the whole Consortium, and Local Communication Plans for different countries. The Local Communication Plan, prepared for Bulgaria, aims to provide a general strategic framework, which can facilitate the further planning of actions, aimed at fulfilling the objectives, set out in the general communication strategy within the specific national context.
