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Communicating on Zika: prevention recommendations in contexts of uncertainties

The Zika virus epidemic, which was treated as a national and international public health emergency during a specific period, gave rise to unusual measures, which claims for a more detailed analysis, especially the recommendations given by the Brazilian Ministry of Health in the website “Combate Aedes ”. In this work, we analyze those recommendations employing the Collective Mindsets Analysis method. The recommendations targeted at health professionals and general public fail due to not clarifying the characteristics of the most vulnerable population, compromising its applicability. The recommendations also fail to make clear who is responsible for many recommended actions, leaving to the public the responsibility of decision making. Without a proper attention for the reality of the affected public, there is a risk of making public policies ineffective.

Zika virus; Public policies; Epidemics; Prevention and control; Reproductive rights


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