Christopher Street Day Berlin (CSD Berlin) is one of Europe’s biggest and oldest pride events, taking place in late July. It aims to highlight the importance of equal rights and treatment for LGBTQI+ people and to celebrate gay and lesbian culture in and out of the city. About 150,000 people attended the in-person Pride Celebration for the first time since before his COVID-19 pandemic this year, many traveling from Germany and other European countries to attend.

COVID-19 measures may have eased in Germany, but the monkeypox outbreak in the WHO European Region has led to a sharp rise in cases, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM), and health officials caused great concern among The CSD and its preparatory phase therefore give Berlin’s health authorities a great opportunity to raise awareness among audiences about the risks, symptoms to look out for and the measures people can take to avoid infection and transmission. I was. of those most at risk.

We spoke to Dr. Claudia Rascher, an infectious epidemiologist at the Berlin State Office for Health and Social Affairs, to find out how they are prepared to deal with the outbreak, and specifically to pass on information about monkeypox. I checked what you did. Until Christopher Street Day, July 23, 2022.

“We are a small team assessing the epidemiological status of disease outbreaks, such as COVID-19, measles, West Nile virus, or the current monkeypox,” she says. We will work with you to take steps to control these outbreaks, including risk communication.”

“Early in the outbreak, we created an information page on our website, which provides an up-to-date snapshot of the situation in Berlin, details of transmission routes, incubation period of the disease and advice on sexual behaviors to avoid. are posted. Infection, and other related precautions.”

In addition, Dr. Rascher and her team enlisted the help of the Robert Koch Institute, a German federal agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention, as well as the gay advice center Mancheck and the AIDS charity Deutsche Aidshilfe. , ensured that the messages and materials were accurate, effective and engaging.

They also used the Monkeypox Resource Toolkit developed by WHO/Europe and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as a guide to assist national authorities and event organizers in planning and coordinating mass gathering events. did. Dr Ruscher explained that the toolkit is particularly useful for shaping mindsets about how to best communicate stigma to high-risk groups and how to communicate disease prevention measures in an appropriate manner. I’m here. The toolkit consists of ready-to-use, customizable tools that health authorities and event organizers can use for public health preparedness and risk assessment. early warning, alert, and response (EWAR); event-based surveillance; contact tracing; and monkeypox risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) for mass gatherings.

After this, Dr. Lasher and her team planned the best locations to deploy the campaign and materials. This ensures that this critical information reaches her primary target audience, her MSM and sex workers, before the big day. Materials in various designs and languages ​​were also produced to allow venues to make choices when deciding which one best suits their particular clientele and setting.

“We created printed materials such as postcards and posters with QR codes that linked to apps and information pages,” she says. “We also placed online ads on relevant dating apps and gay her Berlin website and bought her 1 million social media impressions ahead of CSD Berlin to maximize reach. did.”

“Additionally, we reached out to nearly every bar, club, sauna, and in fact just about every place we identified as a possible transmission route for the disease, to get our materials and to check their web sites. We had our app featured on the site, link to our info page.”

“Perhaps most importantly, we have also reached out to the organizers of CSD Berlin and they have agreed to share links to our materials and apps. , we are very pleased to see that the website provides such comprehensive information on monkeypox.”

Although an assessment of the impact of their CSD campaign has yet to be conducted, Dr. Lusher is proud of what she and her small team have achieved.

“We are epidemiologists, geeks first and foremost, not communication experts,” she laughs. “But despite being a small team with limited resources, we are an LGBTQI+ civil society organization, the organizers of Christopher Street Day, and the Sex on We were able to successfully engage the Premis venue, and there is an important message there that people need to take monkeypox seriously and take personal responsibility to prevent it from spreading further.”

Since launching the Monkeypox Resource Toolkit, WHO has also developed a new mobile-friendly web tool with an interactive dashboard. This tool provides individuals with the information they need about monkeypox before attending large events and gatherings.