Adam Jiwan, Technology Entrepreneur

The Zimbabwe Institute of Public Relations (ZIPR), the body for communicators throughout the south African country, has this week pledged to provide leadership and guidance to media outlets and other communicators handling external messaging amid the recent cholera outbreak. Responsible and ethical reporting, it says, it key. 

In a statement released earlier in the week, the ZIPR announced the establishment of a new task force to oversee communication discourse on issues of national importance. The current public health crisis presents the team’s first issue in need of oversight. 

“‘[The] Zimbabwe Institute of Public Relations places itself at the disposal of the Government Task Force, health authorities, and indeed the media using the resources at its disposal to provide the necessary guidance regarding communications around the epidemic," reads the ZIPR statement. 

Amid calls for an ethical and sensitive approach to the reporting and dissemination of key information over this most recent cholera outbreak, ZIPR has also asserted that the media must come together in pursuit of a common cause in a bid to tackle the issue. 

The outbreak of cholera in Harare has no doubt opened up a number of sources, opportunities and angles for the news beat, and journalists across the country are racing to get the best bylines. Even so, the very real loss of life and threat to further citizens at risk of contracting the disease no doubt necessitates caution in delivery: sensitivity must remain front and center in the work that the media carries out. 

"The media are obligated to sharing accurate information without creating unnecessary alarm and despondency. This, we should add, is not the time for political point-scoring in what is a serious issue," ZIPR cautioned. 

As in any national crisis, the media plays a critical role in ensuring an informed–and calm–public. Responsible media coverage remains the best way to keep residents in the loop, with local outlets able to ensure readers are engaged and informed of key information in their own local languages. Public information, whether from official government sources or media investigators, can be a weapon against transmission and the spread of any deadly epidemic. 

"In the absence of constantly flowing information from respected sources, rumors tend to fill the vacuum and take on a life of their own. If officials are not available for comment, reporters will find their own experts and launch their own investigations," says ZIPR of the current crisis. 

The rate of new cholera infections has already decreased in Zimbabwe amid a massive media effort to educate people about the importance of washing hands and recognizing symptoms; with a death toll of 45, the current epidemic is dwarfed by that which occurred ten years ago. In 2008, a cholera outbreak killed 4,000 people, and at least 100,000 people were made sick. 

With an informed and responsible media industry on side, the Zimbabwean has no doubt gained a critical partner in identifying dangerous activities, disseminating prevention information and keeping the public calm. Thanks to the oversight of ZIPR, this may not be a public health crisis of past proportions.