Table 5.

Interagency and intra-agency collaboration to monitor and respond to rumours

Collaborating stakeholders	Structural features	Functional outputs
• Healthcare managers (Ministry of Health) at national and state levels • Pharmaceutical company • Mass media (newspapers, radio, television)	• Toll free hotline financed by the pharmaceutical company was installed at Ministry of Health headquarters • A unit to monitor rumours was established at Ministry of Health headquarters to track negative news locally and internationally and assess the need for a Ministry of Health response • Links were established between the Ministry of Health unit and social and traditional media	• Real time monitoring of rumours and public/consumer concerns • Referral of personal and programmatic inquiries to appropriate public health or clinical professionals • Prompt response to questions or rumours through electronic media or official statements in the traditional media (eg, during 2010-14, the Ministry of Health issued four press statements) • Information from the telephone hotline, social media, and emails provided useful feedback on concerns about and acceptance of the HPV immunisation programme