Abstract
In order to understand the communication strategy adopted by the Ministry of Health to prevent diseases caused by Aedes and to analyze the perception of the community regarding the videos on dengue, chikungunya and Zika aired between 2014 and 2017, a qualitative analysis was performed based on an in-depth interview with a key informant from the Ministry of Health Communication Center and conversation circles with the community in four Brazilian regions. The strategy adopted by the Ministry relies on the Hypodermic Needle Theory due to financial and logistical issues, but the analyzed campaigns did not reach the majority of participants in the circles. The latter consider that the most important information in prevention campaigns is related to care and not possible sequelae, different from what was affirmed by the key informant. The community considers the regionalization and the approach of socio-environmental, cultural and economic characteristics to be important, but the Ministry of Health does not consider the regionalization of campaigns to be effective. It is concluded that the videos do not meet the needs of the population and should be used in an integrated manner with other types of information, education and communication actions in health for effective disease control.
Key words:
Disease prevention; Aedes; Health communication; Qualitative research