Reporting epidemics: newspapers, information dissemination and the story of Ebola in the Ugandan district of Luweero.

Abstract

When an outbreak occurs, the affected population needs timely information in order to make informed decisions on how best to deal with the situation. Most target populations rely on the media for their information and the authorities use the media to disseminate outbreak information. The media, particularly locally based media, is as a result, crucial to public health outcomes. Reports on outbreaks should be as easy to understand as possible. However, there is, at times, a mismatch between the ideal and the practice. In looking at an example of the practice, this opinion hopes to influence the negotiation for the ideal in outbreak reporting.