The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) is turning to Internet and social networking sites in a bid to prepare people for the prevention of pandemic influenza A (H1N1).The first campaign event is “Experts in pandemic influenza A (H1N1) prevention”, a one-minute short film competition.
The details and rules of the short film competition are scheduled to be announced on October 20, 2009.All Taiwanese citizens are eligible to join the competition.Participants are allowed to use professional cameras or digital video recorders to make creative one-minute short films about expert tips for pandemic influenza A (H1N1) prevention and submit their works to the competition website from October 20 to November 30, 2009.The first prize winner will receive a NT$50,000 coupon, the second prize winner will receive a NT$30,000 coupon and the third prize winner will receive a NT$10,000 coupon.
Facing the threat posed by pandemic influenza A (H1N1), in addition to the short film competition, Taiwan CDC has also utilized online and social media tools to promote pandemic influenza A (H1N1) prevention and to organize “online influenza prevention communities”.The “Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) Prevention Expert—Hotline 1922” has launched its own fan page on Facebook and created an account at Plurk and Twitter on October 15, 2009.
Taiwan CDC urged internet users to join the aforementioned communities and work together on pandemic influenza A (H1N1) prevention.People can easily find the fan page by searching for “Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) Prevention Expert—Hotline 1922” on Facebook.By clicking the “Become a Fan” button, information about the ongoing pandemic influenza A (H1N1) outbreak and other relevant messages are right at the fingertips.Users may also suggest the fan page to their friends or add a link to the page to their personal blogs in order to attract more people to fight the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus together.
In addition to the “Hotline 1922” Facebook fan page, Plurk and Twitter users can search for “1922tw” on both sites to find the Plurk and Twitter accounts, and either follow the account or add the account as a friend to get the latest information about pandemic influenza A (H1N1).By using these social sites, Taiwan CDC hopes to appeal to Internet users, provide them as much information as possible and educate them to prevent the spread of pandemic influenza A (H1N1).