Risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) was on the agenda as more than 200 people from around the world gathered in person and online for the Quadripartite Global Technical Meeting on MERS-CoV and Other Emerging Zoonotic Coronaviruses, held from 27-29 November in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. MERS-CoV is a zoonotic coronavirus believed to have originated in bats and later transmitted to camels, which are the current source of zoonotic infection. Against the background of COVID-19, concerns about spillover from a different coronavirus – MERS – were at the forefront.
The 60-minute RCCE session, “Community Engagement and Spillover Prevention,” focused on the relationship between different community audiences – including the owners of professional racing camels and Bedouin communities who rely upon camels for food, drink and transportation. Three panelists held a lively discussion about which approaches might best work for these communities and their interactions with camels. How do we – as RCCE practitioners – enlist these communities as partners in developing solutions that are workable and acceptable to them?
Considerations included political, economic, sociological, environmental and legal (PESTEL) aspects of camel racing. The economic importance of camel racing was highlighted, alongside the sociological implications of interventions with the potential to impact camels as symbols of cultural identity. The environmental impact of climate change was cited as a risk, as lengthier dry seasons and/or rainy seasons affect Bedouins and mass gatherings associated with camel racing events.
What was the takeaway? With up to 70% of emerging diseases coming from zoonotic sources, all the meeting delegates stressed the importance of strengthening One Health approaches. The importance of community engagement was specifically cited in the context of reaching people with accurate information about the complex inter-relationship between human, animal and environmental health.
Participants of the Quadripartite Global Technical Meeting on MERS-CoV and Other Emerging Zoonotic Coronaviruses
Next steps: Integrate One Health approaches more fully into our work and include the voices of communities and audiences across all sectors. Build relationships with technical areas that focus on issues beyond human health. Finally, continue to build strength in relationships with communities and apply a data-driven understanding of cultural and behavioral aspects in developing RCCE approaches. Said one delegate: “I also loved the community engagement session! Such a rich discussion of behavioral factors!”
