The vital role of meaningful community engagement in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic
Don Nutbeam
Abstract
The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had an enormous impact on the lives of individuals and communities around the world for much of the past year. In many cases this has led to disastrous dislocation of lives and livelihoods and, sadly, millions of deaths. Public health authorities around the world have scrambled to respond to the scale and complexity of the challenge which has been unprecedented in modern public health history. Some countries, notably New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan and Vietnam, have managed their response with relative success through a combination of stringently enforced restrictions on movement and social contact, and effective test and trace programs, all underpinned by integrated public communication campaigns. While each of these countries continues to have sporadic community transmission, the structures now in place seem capable of managing these effectively.