Zika Communication Mapping

This mapping tool is designed to support country-level coordination in Zika communication in 4 Latin American countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. Developed by the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3), the tool utilises Google MyMaps to create an interactive map for each country, allowing users to visualise the geographic distribution of communication efforts by region. The use of geographic information systems (GIS) is an effort here to improve decision-making, increase efficiency, and facilitate greater communication and collaboration during emergency situations.

Beginning in late 2016, the HC3 initiated the Zika communication activity mapping effort. To collect the data, HC3, in partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), developed an instrument to capture high-level information about the distribution of communication efforts by audience, geographic area, key message/theme and timeline in each country. HC3, Ministry of Health representatives, UNICEF, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) then identified 10-15 key organisations in the national Zika response for each country. HC3 then led the data collection phase through an iterative process with each organisation. HC3 also developed an in-depth, online database to complement each map. The databases allow stakeholders to view communication activities in their country, filtered by intended audience. Together, these tools are designed to provide stakeholders with a clear and easily accessible snapshot of communication activities, from which they can build partnerships, streamline efforts, and redistribute resources.

In each of the 4 countries, HC3 presented gap analyses and the online tools to stakeholders, which helped inform the next stages of the communication response. In addition, the maps have been utilised in HC3's quantitative research on Zika knowledge and actions, complementing the research analysis with data on regional communication activities. HC3 will periodically update the tools and analyses, with input from national stakeholders, to continue to facilitate the strategic communication response efforts.