Hive Health

It’s been interesting watching the unfolding pandemic and the approach taken by the DoH.

We have just won a HIV portfolio pitch and I am getting up to speed with patient comms, and its hard not to contrast this with how HIV/AIDs were dealt with in the early days.  Although a different kettle of fish the approach to communications has evolved thank God and much has been written on the development of the campaign and its subsequent panic and confusion.  

As our pandemic appears not to be living up to our initial fears its been a fascinating time to review the communications issued and the civilized approach that has been taken. Even our press, not known for their calm nature with a health story, seems to have calmed down and now tow the line when it comes to panic reduction.  With the exception of Sky News who still go live to every suspected cold in Guatemala.

I like the TV ad , I think its cooked well and does information provision in a simple way to-the-point way. Although I do find the ‘your all going down’  line a little unhelpful. The mailer that popped through the door a few days ago, alongside the leaflet given out at Angel Tube this morning and much of what I have seen on TV spokesman is integrated. The channels are pretty aligned around one strategy – we need to keep the population focused on their role. It’s given me something to do rather than worry. Although the rep in me does cry out for campaign branded tissue giveaways.

Is this is the equivalent of a nice cup of tea post bombshell? A task for us to concentrate on instead of getting all chicken liken. When I view the early iceberg/don’t die of ignorance/AIDS campaign they just confuse and scare me. They smack of a group of people who didn’t  know what to do, so they packed away their leadership and shared their panic with the nation.

Of course sneezing into tissues is a big part of reducing down the transmission of flu but given the loads of other methods  of transference could this be a finger in an ever gushing dyke. Does this mean that panic control has been prioritized over disease control? Regardless –  its been successful and bloody interesting.