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Health Hazard/Risk Communication
The term "risk communication" denotes any purposeful avoidance of risk-related information exchange between concerned parties. In this context, it (avoiding risk/hazard communication) may be defined as an act of transmitting or conveying information to parties in various areas including: environmental or health risk levels, meaning/significance of environmental or health risks, and actions, policies or decisions endeavoring to manage or control environmental or health risks. Concerned parties include scientists, government, industry groups, agencies, corporations, unions, professional organizations, scientists, the media, individual citizens, and interested groups (Florini, 2007).
Justification for Lying or Withholding Risk/Hazard Information
In the past, one could adopt an 'experts know best' stance and merely inform citizens that, while one has identified a risk, they need not worry, and simply state how authorities are planning to deal with it. Today's public is not automatically acquiescent to authority figures, and demands to be more closely involved when it comes to making decisions (Florini, 2007; Thompson, Faith, Gibson & Upshur, 2006).
The SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic that shook the world in 2003 represents one of the recent examples of the benefits and risks associated with open information, when it comes to public health threats. Authorities' hesitancy in acknowledging...
By contrast, ultimate international control and transmission stoppage was found to be rooted in community surveillance, behavioral adjustments, and public awareness (Huang, 2004).
As far as this essay is concerned, there is no justification for lying or information withholding for health hazard, mainly because of the threat they pose. However, to minimize public panic and enable adoption of the relevant measures, information should be provided to the right and relevant authorities and to the public, only on a 'need-to-know' basis.
The Relationship Between Risk/Hazard Communication and Ethics
A sound risk communication plan makes sure that facts are provided in a timely manner, via an accessible, authoritative source; the message must be clear and easily understandable. Studies have depicted that, institutions having sturdy relationships with their major stakeholders' profit most from these relationships in times of crises. Crises serve to magnify non-existent or poor relationships and hence, pre-crisis investment in communication represents a cost-efficient strategy for minimizing organizational damage in the event of a crisis. Six characteristics that consistently surface in communication and management contexts as measures of relationship ethics, are: understanding, trust, cooperation, agreement, credibility, and…
References
Florini, A. (Ed.) (2007). The right to know: transparency for an open world. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Huang Y. (2004). The Sars Epidemic and Its Aftermath in China: A Political Perspective. In: Institute of Medicine (U.S.) Forum on Microbial Threats; Knobler S, Mahmoud A, Lemon S, et al., editors. Learning from SARS: Preparing for the Next Disease Outbreak: Workshop Summary. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (U.S.). Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92479 / on 7 March 2016
O'Malley, P., Rainford, J. & Thompson, A. (2009). Transparency during public health emergencies: from rhetoric to reality. Bulletin of the World Health Organization; 87:614-618. doi: 10.2471/BLT.08.056689
Sandman, P.M. (2003). "Dilemmas in Emergency Communication Policy," In CDCynergy Emergency Risk Communication. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from www.psandman.com/articles/dilemmas.pdf on 7 March 2016
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