Empower to Report: Inform to Dispel: The role of community radio and social media in engaging hard to reach communities with facts and public health information during pandemic

1. Introduction A great deal of the uncertainty about COVID-19 is linked to the misinformation that exists around the world, and Malawi is not exempted. In Malawi, the Ministry of Health with support from different institutions including WHO is the main custodian of the COVID-19 data and any evidence-based information on the pandemic, thereby making it the trusted source of information on the pandemic. Although there has been a steady flow of latest information, scientific findings, and projections about the disease, the flow has mainly targeted the urban population rather than the rural due to the modes and channels of delivery. This has created room for misinformation and distrust among these hard-to-reach populations in so doing creating unnecessary fear and anxiety in this section of the citizenry. However, fear has been recognised as a potentially dangerous driver of behaviours that can prolong or hasten the spread of the disease. Hence the need to have more scientists, science communication and media engagement experts who are willing to go an extra mile in translating their expertise into effective communication on global concerns and anxieties. 2. Aims The project aims at bridging the gap in the flow of information on COVID-19 between the main media outlets and hard to reach communities across Malawi through partnership with community radio stations. To achieve this, the project shall have the following as specific objectives: a. To build the capacity of the local media in reporting COVID-19 pandemic b. To improve the competence of community radios in developing media content on COVID-19 and public health in general that is accessible in hard to reach communities. c. To provide readily available expertise and resources for health research science information in relation to COVID-19 to community radio stations. d. To raise awareness of COVID-19 preventative measures in rural areas through community radio stations. e. To facilitate online discussions on COVID-19 and other emerging infectious diseases. 3. Methodology The project intends to partner with the community radio stations to create and disseminate accurate and up to date COVID-19 information to the hard-to-reach communities across Malawi. By using the community radio stations not only are we going to disseminate timely and accurate information but also in their local language thereby enhancing their understanding. The project will develop training tools and themes to increase knowledge among the rural masses on pandemics and build online collaborative platforms for science journalists and communicators in support of disseminating coordinated science communication outputs. To ensure the community radio stations are using only credible and evidence based COVID-19 information in their programming, the project team comprising of experts in health, science communication and media engagement shall offer training to station's core 4. Expected outcomes a. Increased awareness, direct and indirect dialogues amongst communities, community leaders and health professionals. b. Increased capacity for journalists to accurately produce relevant, fact-based health research science and COVID-19 information and disseminate to the rural audience. c. Increased coverage of science-based information on COVID-19 and public health targeting hard to reach communities. d. Increased access to adaptive responses information on COVID-19 to foster positive health attitudes and adherence to preventive measures. e. Increased appreciation of the role that community radio stations play in engaging the public for behaviour change. 5. Conclusion Although the project is primarily focused at reaching out to people in rural communities through community radios, the project also intends to create platforms where the experiences and lessons of working with community radio stations in reaching the disadvantaged populations can be shared. We envisage that the skills that will be imparted to these community radio stations will be superlatively important to help them report accurately and dispel any kind of misinformation that can easily translate into behaviour change and adherence. The project provides an invaluable opportunity for policy makers, health professional, scientists, and COVID-19 response teams to reach out to hard to reach communities with relevant information on COVID-19 based on scientific evidence. Expected Outputs a. The projects intend to conduct 8 trainings in 8 community radio stations stationed in 8 districts in Malawi. Some of these community radio stations can transmit further to other surrounding districts. b. The training will target self-trained journalists, editors, writers, and presenters in these community radio stations. c. Training will also cover other areas including accessing information on the web d. Access to reliable and available scientists that are dedicating their time in educating Malawians on issues related to COVID-19.