Page 24 - Covid Special Issue

stakeholders and enabling communities to develop a sense of awareness, an analytical mind, change behaviours and take informed decisions regarding healthcare and associated risks.
The programme is aimed at minimizing risks at all levels with the help of public communication and outreach activities, promoting public understanding of common minimum science for community care and health safety measures like personal sanitation and hygiene, physical distancing, maintaining desired collective behaviours and so on. It also includes information dissemination mechanisms to reduce the fear of risks and build confidence with necessary understanding for adopting sustainable healthy lifestyles and nurturing scientific culture among masses and societies.
"In the absence of vaccines and cure for COVID-19, conveying the authentic best practices on cutting down on the transmission of virus and its management are of paramount significance. In order for a widespread grass-roots impact, our communication strategies have to be multidimensional, engaging, informative, and delivered with speed and scale," said Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST.
YASH will envisage specific outcomes, like improved risk understanding amongst target groups including working with local sensitivities, belief systems, traditions, and indigenous knowledge; bringing about attitudinal changes among target groups about appreciating risks, associated challenges, solutions, and coping with the situation with courage and confidence; better working relations with community leaders, influencers including doctors, faith leaders and so on. It also encompasses improved ability to clarify misperceptions, misbeliefs as well as introduce practices based on authentic knowledge duly verified by scientific processes, trust in scientific competence of solutions and service providers.
DST released information brochure on health & risk communication
programme focusing on COVID-19
The National Council for Science & Technology Communication (NCSTC), DST released an information brochure for their programme on health and risk communication ‘Year of Awareness on Science & Health (YASH) with focus on COVID-19’. The brochure carries information on the genesis and need of such a mega programme in the country to address the issues of risks, crises, disasters, and uncertainties especially posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme focuses on enhancing public understanding and awareness on science and health for better preparedness to cope with the present and future challenges.
Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST said that a wide array of programmes and activities built around awareness and outreach have been envisaged involving print, electronic, digital, folk and interactive media to reach out to large cross-sections of the society under the campaign. He added that the logo of the YASH programme has been designed to create a wave of peace and bliss and it depicts a sense of overcoming the situation at large and would act as a harbinger of taking forward the messages of science, health, risk and awareness.
The National Health & Risk Communication programme has been planned and being implemented in a big way with a mechanism of PAN India presence and reach. State Councils of Science & Technology have been involved. The three major ingredients of the programme include software/content development, capacity development, and dissemination and outreach.
The activities are spread over six regions, East, West, North, South, Central and Northeast. Special communication modules are developed depending upon especially marked zones, and networking and training of communicators and volunteers for activities related to community
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