MID-BCC in Cambodia: Training the Frontlines on Risk Communication

By Cecile Lantican

July 2, 2012

Cecile Lantican, MID-BCC Country Coordinator Lao PDR, traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia to train eight members of the national rapid response team on risk communication from June 20-21. The participants of the national training will train provincial and district team members to enhance Cambodia's capacity to repond effectively to a H5N1 outbreak.

This blog is the first part on Risk Commumunication Training of Trainers in Cambodia. Part two is Meet the Trainers in Kampong Speu Province.

(Editor's note: minor edits have been made to the author's original report)

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“Avian influenza is still a threat to the health of Cambodians,” said HE Mam Bun Heng, Minister of Health in a joint press release on 28 May 2012 between the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

This joint statement declared the country’s 21st human death from the H5N1 virus. This case was the third person who died this year in Cambodia.

A poultry trader transports live chickens in one of the local markets in
Phnom Penh

The fight against the H5N1 virus in Cambodia is continuing. The government, through the Technical Working Group on H5N1 with representatives from the Communicable Diseases Control (CDC) of the MOH, National Veterinary Research Institute (NaVRI) under the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), and international organizations like United Nations International  Children’s Fund (UNICEF),  Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and World Health Organization (WHO), has continually mobilized the rapid response team to ensure every necessary measure is taken, inlcuding surveillance, provision of adequate and timely epidemiological, laboratory and field information, and conducting public awareness campaigns.  

I travelled to Phnom Penh on June 18 to extend assistance to the current work of the USAID-funded MID-BCC.  Since the first quarter of this year, MID-BCC has provided support to strengthen the communication and outreach campaign of the government to reduce the risk of H5N1 virus.

After the training, these national trainers are expected to train the provincial and district rapid response team members.

My role was to train the trainers from the national rapid response team on risk communication. The national H5N1 rapid response team is composed of technical staff from the NAVRI and Communicable Diseases Control DC and representatives from partner organizations like FAO and WHO.  The team is responsible for taking the first steps in keeping the county under the  state of alertness and preparedness  in case of the suspicion of H5N1 outbreak.

The training of trainers was designed to enhance the capacity of provincial and district agriculture, health officers and other responsible key players to be on the lookout for any untoward incident related to dying poultry in numbers and people getting sick of influenza- like illnesses in the community. The training using the team-based approach specifically was aimed at building the interpersonal communication skills of the rapid response team - how to gather information from people in the community that is used to investigate the outbreak and how to communicate accurately and effectively important information to the community and community leaders.

Our local consultant, Mr. Tongngy Kaing facilitated the preparation for the training. Training was held at the Sunway Hotel in Phnom Penh from June 20 to 21.

There were eight participants: three from CDC; three technical staff from NaVRI -- all spoke and understood English well; two Cambodian Red Cross representatives, also good English speakers. The Red Cross’ senior program manager even helped me on simultaneous translation for the two participants from CDC. 

Except the representatives from the Cambodian Red Cross, all participants from the two ministries are members of the surveillance and rapid response team. From the classroom discussion it was clear that they were familiar with their roles and responsibilities and how to work together in the community. We invited the participation of the Cambodian Red Cross because the organization serves as a member of the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) and it has H5N1 virus activities in selected provinces in the county.

I followed the Risk Communication guide developed for the PREVENT Project. I focused on three sections – Forming the Communication Task Force, Working in the Community, and Communicating Effectively – and included interpersonal communication skills. I also highlighted the rapid assessment checklist which provided them a variety of questions that they may encounter when they talk with people during outbreak.

We opened the training by asking them a set of questions as a pre-test. The questions were formulated based on the content of the guide. Questions however could be answered based on what they encountered in the field before and during outbreak. Based on the review of the pre-test results, of the eight participants, seven answered well.

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