By Saud Alsulaiman & Dr. Terry Rentner The Coronavirus Crisis in Saudi Arabia: A Critical Review of Campaign Efforts to Reduce the Spread of the Virus By Saud Alsulaiman & Dr. Terry Rentner

The Ministry of Health (MOH) The MOH Was established in 1951 Regulate all health affairs across the kingdom Around 6%-7% (12% in 2016) of the country budget goes annually to the MOH There are more than 260 hospitals and 1280 outpatient clinics

What is Coronavirus? The WHO defines the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) as a “viral respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus” or MERS-CoV. (WHO, 2014) Individuals who have MERS-Cov typically develop severe acute respiratory illness, like fever, cough, shortness of breath, congestion in the nose or throat, or diarrhea (CDC, 2014a; MOH, 2014)

What is Coronavirus? First case of the virus was reported in Saudi Arabia in September of 2012 Health officials identified later that the first case of MERS occurred in April of 2012 in Jordan Most cases have happened in the Arabian peninsula, but also many Western countries have witnessed MERS cases (WHO, 2014)

Initial Response There was no response, really!!! Outrage on social media, especially Twitter Exchange of information between people

Initial Response Spread of the virus pushed the Ministry of Health to say something Everything is under control !!! Transparency issue One way communication

The Ministry’s Statements “Coronavirus is under control, and there is nothing to worry about” “There is no medical reason to impose tighter precautionary measures to contain the spread of MERS”

The Ministry’s Statements The minister urged people “not to be misled by rumors or unreliable information published via the social networking sites” “The ministry is to inform all people of the updates or many important information in this regard”

The Ministry’s Statements “The Coronavirus is novel and still mysterious worldwide, that we do not yet know a lot about ways of its transmission. Even, there is neither vaccine nor medicine for it”

The Result 244 cases of MERS have been reported and 80 people died in the kingdom as April of 2014 From September 2012 and until April of 2014, there was no public campaigns to eradicate coronavirus He was fired from his position

New Change of Command “The Ministry of Health would fight coronavirus until the country is free from the virus” (Al-Arabiya, 2014) Established the Command & Control Center Established a Coronavirus website

New Change of Command Established a hot free line (937) Two- way communication Interactive and visual media Launched a public health campaign “We can stop it”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMFu1UKHMnA

Statistics on MERS As February 11, 2016: 2 cases under treatment 738 cases recovered 551 cases passed away Total of 1291 cases

Best Practices Internal communication is crucial during a crisis During a crisis, the public needs information Two- way communication is a must during a crisis Having a crisis communication drill is crucial

Best Practices Transparency is indispensable to gain the public trust Social media provides tremendous benefits if it used properly

Questions? Contact: Saud Alsulaiman Terry Rentner, Ph.D Thank you Questions? Contact: Saud Alsulaiman Terry Rentner, Ph.D Doctoral student Professor BGSU BGSU sauda@bgsu.edu trentne@bgsu.edu