Latin America – C4D Network

Zika became a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in February 2016 garnering international attention. There was a need to understand risk perception and behaviours related to Zika specifically, but also to gain knowledge on how risk is perceived in the context of an emerging disease outbreak.

In response, IFRC and Save the Children in Latin America and the Caribbean carried out a total of 2,711 Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) surveys collecting data at the household level.

Results showed that awareness about Zika disease was high but understanding about what made it different from other mosquito-borne diseases was poor. Conversely, stigma and discrimination associated with the disease were low. Lack of knowledge about sexual transmission may have played a role in this.

Click here for abstract.

As elsewhere, public trust in the media is on the decline in Latin America and the Caribbean. Is this trend attributable to social media? To a broader anti-establishment backlash? Or does it reflect growing concerns over pluralism in the media and the dominant control of the media by a few elites. Understanding the public perceptions on these issues is essential for building broad coalitions for reform. In this report, an analysis of new data from the 2016/2017 AmerciasBarometer survey sheds light on these questions. In addition to surveying the public about press freedom and trust in the media, the latest AmericasBarometer questionnaire also includes five new questions specifically designed to gauge individual perceptions of media pluralism.

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Emerging Epidemics and Risk Perception: New Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean (IFRC/Save the Children SBCC Summit Abstract, 2018)

Media Pluralism, Public Trust, and Democracy: New Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean (CIMA Report, 2018)

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