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Bali is both an island and a province in Indonesia. Majority of the people adopt the Hindu religion and have a homogenous and well-maintained culture. In the world, Bali is a famous tourist site with its uniqueness and cultural art.

When avian influenza struck Indonesia in 2003 and had spread to most parts of Indonesia, Bali was also on of the infected areas. Even in 2007 bird flu had claimed human lives in Bali. As an area that is very dependant on tourism, human cases of bird flu is a high concern because it could cause bad impact on tourism in Bali.

Therefore, Bali as a tourist site must get the attention of all stakeholders to overcome bird flu in Bali. An integrated control strategy has been agreed and included in it is a strategy on how to communicate good and correct information to all elements of the society.

Related to the communication strategy as part of the integrated bird flu control strategy, CIVAS in collaboration with the Livestock Services Office of Bali Province and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on March 11 to 13, 2008, had conducted a Training of Trainer of AI Communication Workshop in Bali.

Most of the training participants were veterinarians representing various parties, which were the local government, Livestock Services Office of Bali, Directorate General of Livestock, farmers, NGO, and academician.

The objective of this workshop was to train participants on how to effectively communicate high concern issues of animal health currently circulating in the public by focusing more on the issues of bird flu. In this training, instructors discussed more on the science and philosophy of communication and also on how to communicate risks in a way that is more acceptable by the public. Participants have also actively participated by running interview scenarios on how to answer questions addressed by the public on bird flu.

And as a result of the training, participants were encouraged to discuss and create message maps for bird flu that have been adjusted to the conditions, culture, and interest of Bali province. The message maps are expected to be used as a guideline for AI communication by the local government of Bali.

After the training, the event was continued with a Workshop for Development of Messages for each Specific Target Audience on March 14 to 15, 2008, in Bali. This workshop was attended by the local government, central government, mass media, private sector, farmers, public figures, religious figures, doctors, veterinarians, poultry vendor, and many others. With these attendants, the workshop was expected to produce an integrated communication strategy for bird flu communication in Bali.

Similar to the Training of Trainer, workshop participants were also asked to discuss and create message maps for bird flu, but with a more specific audience. The audience selected had been agreed previously by participants to be a priority for control of bird flu in Bali; they were bird smugglers, people using live poultry in rituals / ceremonies, consumers of lawar, and cock-fighters.

Instructors of this event, both training and workshop, were Dr. Vincent Covello, PhD (Director of Center for Risk Communication, New York) and Angela Harless (Communication Coordinator, USDA, Washington).

Hopefully discussion results and recommendations from this event could be used as part of the communication strategy to control bird flu in Bali in particular, and furthermore hopefully it could be developed and adjusted by each area according to the local condition and situation. (atm)