COVID-19 fight media campaign reached over 60 million Vietnamese people
After nine months of execution, the 'Safe Journeys' campaign ong COVID-19 prevention and control measures has achieved significant results through mass media and social media.
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| COVID-19 fight media campaign reached over 60 million Vietnamese people. |
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Viet Nam recently concluded the “Safe Journeys” campaign with a closing ceremony that looks back at the nine-month journey to equip the public with accurate information on COVID-19 prevention and control measures.
In 2022, after two years of battling the COVID-19 pandemic, Viet Nam adapted to a new normal, where in order for the country to reopen with confidence, there was an ongoing need to remain alert to outbreaks and new COVID-19 variants.
Recognising the importance of keeping people informed and alert to the situation, UNICEF Viet Nam, in collaboration with the MoH and the WHO, launched the “Safe Journeys” media campaign on 7 March 2022 to emphasize and reinforce COVID-19 prevention and control measures, including COVID-19 vaccination.
After nine months of execution, the campaign has achieved significant results through mass media and social media. Specifically, the campaign's messages have become popular and well-received among the public, reaching more than 60 million people and engaging more than 5 million people on Facebook.
“The Vietnamese Government has focused all its resources on accelerating COVID-19 vaccination coverage as an important and decisive measure in the process of safe, flexible adaptation and effective control of the COVID-19 epidemic.
As of December 14, 2022, 265,077,045 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been safely administered, making Viet Nam one of the countries with the highest rate of COVID-19 vaccine coverage in the world”, said Assoc. Dr. Nguyen Thi Lien Huong, Vice-Minister of Health.
“The result is partly due to communication efforts that have encouraged people to actively participate in safe vaccination against COVID-19 and this campaign is a concrete example of that", she added.
Across national television channels VTV2, HTV9, HTV7 and VTV5 (an ethnic minority language channel), three talk shows on COVID-19 related topics such as vaccination for children, booster shots, home treatment for children and prevention measures were broadcast 22 times.
The talk shows featured leading public health experts and pediatricians, including Associate Professor and Doctor Duong Thi Hong, Associate Professor and Doctor Tran Minh Dien, Professor and Doctor Nguyen Van Kinh, Associate Professor Tran Dac Phu, Doctor Truong Huu Khanh, and Doctor Luong Chan Quang.
At the same time, the talkshows were produced specifically for TikTok, with the participation of paediatrician Dang Thi Kim Huyen and MC Minh Trang. Four radio programs in Thai, Mong, Tay and Khmer ethnic languages were broadcast 204 times on VOV4.
“The 'Safe Journeys' campaign has brought important information to people in all corners of Viet Nam, especially the more disadvantaged groups, building their confidence in the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, with the goal of ensuring no one is left behind in these efforts," Ms. Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Viet Nam said at the event.
“The participation of leading health experts, pediatrics, celebrities, KOLs in the campaign has helped the messages effectively reached to millions of people, convinced them to get vaccinated and to reinforce the importance of complying with COVID-19 prevention practices”.
Meanwhile, Dr Angela Pratt, WHO representative of the World Health Organization in Viet Nam expressed belief that the ‘Safe Journeys’ campaign has provided people with important and accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines, helping people to understand the safety, necessity and effectiveness of vaccines, especially for children.
"The campaign has also highlighted that in the new situation, to maintain the balance between an open society and protecting health, we still need three things; firstly, for people to follow basic protection measures such as hand washing and mask wearing in high-risk settings, secondly for parents to ensure their children are fully vaccinated with the primary vaccination series, and thirdly for all eligible adults to get their recommended booster doses," she said.
As part of the campaign, a wealth of content, including short video clips and infographics was posted simultaneously on the Facebook pages of the MoH, UNICEF Viet Nam, and WHO Viet Nam. Influencers with large social media followers, including Miss H'Hen Niê, Minh Trang, Khang A Tua, Chao Yen, and MC Huong Giang, are acknowledged for their support to further amplify the campaign on their channels. Importantly, the messages of the campaign were translated into ethnic languages and sign language to reach a variety of groups, including ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.
"I am very honored to be a companion of the ‘Safe Journeys’ campaign. As a child of Dak Lak, I understand the difficulties that people in the village face in accessing accurate, scientific and easy-to-understand health care information. Therefore, I feel very fortunate to contribute to bringing the correct information to everyone, with the hope that every child and every citizen has the opportunity to access timely preventive measures, including COVID-19 vaccination,” Miss Universe Viet Nam 2017 H'Hen Niê said.
With the support of the Australian Government and implementation by UNICEF Viet Nam, the campaign played an integral role in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic in Viet Nam. TikTok Viet Nam also helped spreading the campaign messages.
(Source: WHO Viet Nam Media)
