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Global Public Health Campaigns on Twitter: Brazil
Several civil society groups and NGOs in Brazil are leveraging information as the key to containing the recent COVID-19 pandemic. They are relying on Twitter hashtags like #Coronanasperiferias, and #COVID19NasFavelas to communicate messages of solidarity to Brazilians as they fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The messages passed by these Twitter campaigns contain insights relevant to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and often target individuals with other medical ailments like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension. One public health Twitter campaign that has run within the past eight months in Brazil is #SafeHands.
#CoronaNasPeriferias
- #CoronaNasPeriferias campaign is a Twitter-based campaign promoted by Agencia Mural. Agencia Mural has its headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil, and 7,795 followers on Twitter.
- The campaign's messaging focuses on communicating a summary ("resumão") of developments every week to help Brazilians as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. A picture of people wearing face masks used below the #CoronaNasPeriferias continua thread is available via this link.
- Agency Mural is a news, information, and intelligence agency focused on São Paulo and its metropolitan region. The agency uses the #CoronaNasPeriferias campaign to educate Brazilians on methods of preventing coronavirus infection and developments on the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign commenced after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Agencia Mural has several posts below its #CoronaNasPeriferias tag or campaign on Twitter. These posts educate with tips useful to diabetic and hypertensive patients.
- Agencia Mural acquired 33 retweets and 84 likes for its #CoronaNasPeriferias campaign of 3rd April 2020. An expansion
- A link specified with"show this thread"and located below Agencia Mural's #CoronaNasPeriferias hashtag via its campaign of April 2020 reveals that the agency promotes social distancing (isolation) and work from home to combat COVID-19. The campaign also discloses a link to an article that helps diabetic and hypertensive people. Diabetic patients Thomas Asani take protective and preventive steps to keep their "food trade open" amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
- #Coronanasperiferias is the brainwork of several media activist groups and coalitions aimed at fighting the COVID-19 pandemic through social media platforms. These groups members believe that "information is key to containing" the coronavirus pandemic. They agree that information useful in the fight against COVID-19 must get communicated to the poor in ways that align with their experience.
#COVID19NasFavelas
- Following the outbreak of COVID-19, several community-based groups of activists have relied on social media to provide mainstream narratives about the pandemic. One of the social media hashtags they used by community-based groups in Brazil is #COVID19NasFavelas. Group using the hashtag to share public health information comprises of residents drawn from a "network of 420 volunteers."
- Some Twitter users believe that groups of Brazilians in shantytowns (favelas) are relying on the #COVID19NasFavelas Twitter campaign to complement government efforts and help themselves in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents of Brazil share vital public health information using the #COVID19NasFavelas hashtag.
- A recent picture showing a resident of Brazil wearing a face mask and revealing has a messaging that from tomorrow, using masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, will become mandatory across the Rio de Janeiro municipality is accessible via this link.
- Based on its messaging, the #COVID19NasFavelas campaign focuses on providing information that helps Brazilians living in congested areas with tips on proper sanitation. Apart from the widespread belief that adequate sanitation is vital in the fight against COVID-19, experts agree that it is also essential in the battle against other disease outbreaks known to affect public health negatively (such as cholera).
- #COVID19NasFavelas campaigns for proper sanitation. It provides links to articles in the Guardian newspaper that educate Brazilians on the need for people living in overcrowded conditions without adequate sanitation to wear face masks. It also promotes individuals or activists that are donating face masks to poor people in crowded areas.
- Twitter-based campaigns for masks promoted via #COVID19NasFavelas are helpful and beneficial. They help people living situations where it is not possible to observe "social distancing " (this includes people living in "overcrowded conditions" or favelas). They also help to protect people with "heart disease, diabetes," chronic lung disease, cancer, or immunity problems (these people have higher risk factors relative to COVID-19). The benefits of this campaign are enormous as people suffering from underlying diseases such as cardiovascular illnesses are associated with a potential higher risk when "they contract coronavirus."
#SafeHands
- The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the launch of the #SafeHands Challenge in March 2020. The campaign strives to educate the public on the power of handwashing in the fight against coronavirus. A picture captured from a video promoting the #SafeHands campaign on Twitter by WHO's Director-General (Tedros Adhanom) has over 1.6 million views, 2,700 likes, 15,000 retweets and is accessible via this link.
- The #SafeHands challenge promoted by the World Health Organization is ongoing in Brazil. One of the Brazilians participating in the campaign is a retired Brazilian midfielder, Kaka. World Health Organization is a non-governmental organization (NGO).
- Another Brazilian celebrity participating in the #SafeHands campaign (challenge) is Alisson Becker (a Brazilian footballer). Dr. Natalia Becker (@DrNataliaBecker) is one of the professionals known to have joined the #SafeHands campaign. Dr. Natalia Becker is WHO's health promotion goodwill ambassador for Brazil.
- The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is also promoting the #SafeHands Challenge on Twitter. The UNHCR reveals that its team members and partners across Brazil are striving to ensure that Venezuelan refugees, as well as migrants, stay safe via the #SafeHands campaign.
- According to its messaging, the United Nation's hand hygiene campaign is not just to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), but also focuses on "other infectious diseases." It is for those that can access soap and water. The easy steps of the #SafeHands campaign are recommended for various communities and individuals and strive to advance public health.
- An organization promoting the #SafeHands Challenge is Colgate Palmolive. The company is working to save lives by advocating for "40 seconds of handwashing." The South American headquarters of Colgate Palmolive is in São Paulo, Brazil. Colgate Palmolive produces hand sanitizers known to kill bacteria (sanitizers are personal care or healthcare products used to combat the spread of COVID-19)
- A recent twitter post made by Colgate Palmolive promotes handwashing using the #SafeHands hashtag and reveals that together, we can overcome as well as achieve a safe future.
Research Strategy
The research examines examples of public health campaigns that have run on Twitter within the past eight months in Brazil. This strategy reviewed the twitter handles of the several companies operating within the public health sector in Brazil, such as Dorflex and several other companies that offer solutions relevant to public health. The twitter handles of these companies did not contain any public health campaigns that have run within the past eight months. The study also reviewed news and media resources, think tank publications, and Brazilian Twitter hashtags for public health Twitter campaigns over the past eight months in Brazil. Insights revealed by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace disclosed that some non-governmental organizations in Brazil recently used #Coronanasperiferias (or #Coronaintheperipheries) and #COVID19NasFavelas (or #COVID19intheslums) to campaigns for public health. This strategy uncovered two Twitter campaigns. Due to the limited number of Twitter hashtags associated with public health campaigns in Brazil, the study also includes a public health campaign implemented in Brazil (#SafeHands). However, #SafeHands is also running in other countries. The study considers health campaigns run by agencies, non-profit organizations (NGO's), pharmaceutical companies focused on public health issues as worthy of inclusion. These campaigns focus on the COVID-19 pandemic or any other public health areas like cardiovascular diseases, bone diseases, oncology, obesity or diabetes, and other diseases. Only campaigns implemented within the past eight months are in the research. The world was alerted on COVID-19 outbreak in December 2019, and campaigns focused on COVID are likely less than six months old.