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The Ministry of Health yesterday launched the Multi-Hazard Risk Communication and Community Engagement Strategy (MHRCCES) 2024-2025. The strategy was launched yesterday in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region.
The Ministry’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Sisilia Fusi Fifita, was the guest of honour at the event. Dr. Fifita stressed that the strategy is designed to guide ministry staff in providing timely and accurate information, engage media partners, and empower community leaders to better respond to disasters.
“Our goal is to ensure that the public has access to reliable information on various hazards and to combat misinformation on social media and in the community,” said Dr. Fifita. She stressed that the MHRCCES was developed in response to the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Fifita called on the public and participants to work with the Ministry to achieve the goals of the strategy.
NCD chief nurse Seilini Soakai expressed concern that misinformation was having a negative impact on young women getting the HPV vaccine for cervical cancer. “Religious figures on Christian television were speaking out against our vaccination efforts and this was causing public skepticism,” she said. “Vaccination rates in Tonga used to be high but misinformation has affected this.”
Dr Ofa Tukia, head of the health promotion department, said he believed the new MHRCCES would help rebuild trust in the ministry and its staff. “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the difficulty of combating misinformation on social media,” Dr Tukia said.
Tonga is the first Pacific country to develop this comprehensive risk communication strategy.
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