Enhancing Global Health Communication During a Crisis Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

This article discusses lessons learned in risk communication during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors created a checklist for COVID-19 (based on one created during the mad cow crisis and adapted for the 2014 Ebola outbreak). The authors highlight the challenge of misinformation and disinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and share strategies for communicating risk in a challenging media environment. They recommend a five-item checklist for handling the media environment, including (1) setting shared goals, (2) establishing a coordinated response, (3) devising a communication strategy, (4) implementing the communication plan, and (5) being ready to adapt.