Arab Official Efforts to Raise Awareness of COVID-19: The Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Model in the UAE

Abstract

This study aims to identify the contents of crisis communication used by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to raise awareness of the dangers of coronavirus (COVID-19) and reduce its spread in three phases – preparation, initial and maintenance – following the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication model. The study implemented content analysis for three elements from the crisis and risk communication components introduced by the UAE government. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic crisis, the UAE government quickly drew up a national plan to deal with the crisis under the leadership of the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) and the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP). In the maintenance phase, it relied on a number of means to raise awareness of coronavirus and prevent its spread; these included press conferences, periodic media briefings, awareness campaigns, community-based initiatives, and electronic publications on official websites of the NCEMA and the MOHAP. It also provided diverse, honest, accurate and detailed crisis communication to explain the crisis. All the UAE government's communication content provided a variety of rich information on the new coronavirus. This helped to deal with the crisis efficiently and effectively and contributed to raising community awareness and highlighting the health system's ability to investigate and follow up in a timely manner.