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Our work in 2021 /

Communication

It is ECDC’s obligation to communicate the results of its work and to provide objective, reliable and easily accessible information about communicable diseases to target audiences and stakeholders through the ECDC portal and other relevant channels, as well as to work in collaboration with the European Commission and the Member States on risk communication and campaigns.

In addition, Member States consider consistent communication messages to citizens based on robust and independent evaluation of public health risks a vital area of cooperation when responding to serious cross-border health threats.

The latest ECDC Communication Policy was developed and approved in 2021. The purpose of the policy is to define the actions and lines of work of ECDC in the area of communication for the period 2022-2027 and to establish a common understanding of the Centre’s target audiences, stakeholders, as well as internal and external priorities. It builds on previous experiences and incorporates the findings and recommendations of the evaluations, audits and performance analysis conducted both within and outside the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also reflects the needs and media use of its target audiences and stakeholders, as well as the current trends and innovations in e.g., risk communication, crisis communication, and behavioural/social science research, amongst others.

colleagues having a meeting Throughout 2021, ECDC implemented overall COVID-19 communication and marked a number of awareness days such as World Tuberculosis Day, World Hepatitis Day, World Hand Hygiene Day, World Field Epidemiology Day, Flu Awareness Week, European Immunisation Week, World AIDS Day, and European Antibiotic Awareness Day, with the development of communication campaigns, including public health messages and using traditional media, social media, videos, toolkits, infographics and other materials. Some of these materials were translated and shared with partners and stakeholders across the EU.

ECDC was continuously present in mainstream media during 2021, with 56 069 clippings in European and international media. Most of the coverage was neutral or positive and included content related to COVID-19, vaccination issues and antimicrobial resistance. A high volume of articles and other outputs originated in Italy, Greece and Portugal. The ECDC press and media team added 466 journalists to its journalists’ database (compared to 357 in the previous year).

The ECDC website continued to have high traffic in 2021, with a peak in July, due to the high interest in the maps in support of the Council recommendation on a coordinated approach on travel measures, ahead of the summer season and because of an increase of COVID-19 cases in some parts of Europe. The highest number of page views in one day was recorded on 15 July with 324 882 views.

Overall, 10.863.890 website sessions were recorded during 2021, compared with 18.330.149 in 2020 (41% decrease). Additionally, there were 406 545 PDF downloads in 2021, compared to 572.051 PDF downloads in 2020 (29% decrease). The majority of visits on ECDC’s website came from Europe, with 9.5 million sessions (40% decrease) recorded from users in European countries. 600.261 sessions were recorded from Asia, followed by the Americas (451.762), Africa (146.456) and Oceania (36.577). Returning users accounted for 48% of traffic pre-pandemic.