EU disease prevention agency's new chief seeks better public engagement

Bridging the gap between scientific information and the general public is a priority for the Austrian physician, who recently took over as the agency’s head.

Rendi-Wagner, who previously led Austria’s Socialist Party for five years, stressed the need for clear communication, reflecting on the confusion during the COVID-19 pandemic when the public often felt left in the dark.

“That uncertainty leaves people feeling insecure when they feel they have no clear guidance,” she said during her first press briefing as ECDC director at the European Health Forum Gastein, following her appointment in June.

Lack of accessibility was raised by a recent report from the European Court of Auditors, which criticised the ECDC’s public communication efforts during the pandemic.

The report noted that while the agency responded effectively to the crisis, it struggled to communicate clearly with the general public.

Improving transparency and comprehensibility

The EU auditors report pointed out that although most of the ECDC's key outputs were made public, they were primarily directed at health professionals and policymakers, rather than the general public.

Rendi-Wagner acknowledged this gap, noting that “it can be unsettling when people don’t understand the technical language used by doctors, epidemiologists, and virologists.”

She stressed the importance of addressing the public’s concerns and uncertainties to build trust, particularly when it comes to topics like vaccinations.

“Transparency is essential for gaining public trust,” she said, pointing to the Vaccination Monitoring Platform as a positive step.

The platform, developed by the ECDC and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, regularly evaluates the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, making this information publicly accessible.

The EU auditors also noted a surge in media inquiries to the ECDC during the pandemic—twenty times more than in 2019. However, many of the agency’s publications were written in technical English, making them difficult for laypeople to understand.

Tackling disinformation on social media

Rendi-Wagner emphasised the need to identify disinformation early and counter it with clear, understandable information before it spreads on social media.

“With any emerging viral disease, we must recognise disinformation at an early stage and counter it quickly,” she said.

To address this, the ECDC has implemented a communication strategy for 2022-2027 that explicitly targets EU citizens.

The agency has also launched a new initiative called social listening, which aims to detect misinformation in the scientific domain (especially on social media) early on.

This will allow ECDC communicators to prepare clear and accurate responses in a timely manner.

“It’s vital to raise public awareness about science and how knowledge evolves,” Rendi-Wagner concluded.