Status of health communication activities for the prevention and control of communicable diseases across the EU and EEA/EFTA countries

In order to contribute to the knowledge and understanding of how health communication activities influence the prevention and control of communicable diseases, ECDC commissioned a Research Consortium of universities to produce a report to map their current use.

Data was collected across the 30 EU and EEA/EFTA countries, the results of which show that health communication activities were most commonly identified for areas such as influenza, HIV/AIDS and vaccine preventable diseases. General health and crisis communication was the main type of communication identified by the report, although the level of activity varies greatly between disease groups and countries. A number of gaps were also presented, including a fragmented responsibility for health communication at national levels and a knowledge gap regarding education and training for health communication.

The report suggests a number of key action points including strengthening collaboration across the EU, prioritising education and training for health communication and developing online interactive resources for the prevention and control of communicable diseases.