The Challenge of Making Communication a Strategic Component of Public Health Policies

Abstract

This articl e discusses the main components of the project that the Offic e of Public
Info rmation and Co mmun ication of the Argentin e Ministry of Health ha s b een
developing since 2009 to promote communication as one of the strategic aspects of
health policies.
The network of subsystems, jurisdictions, health care levels and participants of health
care policies, programs and services, as well as the diverse issues affecting people’s
health, c ons titute some of the features that exp ress the c om plexity which is
characteristic of the public health field and which pose significant challenges when
carrying out the aforementioned project.
The lack of institutionalization of the Office of Public Information and Communication
of the Argentine Ministry of Health; the absence of a clear definition of the content and
implications regarding the role played by communicational guidance; fragmentation;
the dominant instrumental vision, which equates communication work with designing
prevention campaigns for the media; and the deficiencies in planning and assessing
capabilities were some of the critic al issues identified during the diagnosis made at
the beginning of the process.
Promoting an organizational culture focused on managing information and knowledge,
prioritizing the cultural and communicational aspects of health care issues, as well as
working towards professionalizing and empowering public health communicators and
implementing strategies among disciplines, institutions and sectors aimed at fostering
integration and coordination, are some of our main daily and future goals.