Poll: Majority favors daily update on influenza A (H1N1)

BANGKOK, 20 July 2009 (NNT) – A recent opinion survey by Suan Dusit Rajabhat University indicated that the majority of the public wanted the government to issue daily updates on the A (H1N1) situation.

The latest Suan Dusit Poll was conducted among people in Bangkok and other provinces on 20 July 2009 on how to communicate the A (H1N1) situation effectively. The poll showed that the majority or 89.50% backed daily news presentation on the flu virus while 9.39% called for a weekly basis as planned, and only 1.11% said the matter should not be publicized.

The majority or 49.76% wanted to be informed of the preventive measures and treatments while 25.84% wished to be able to identify preliminary flu symptoms, and another 13.88% were interested in the transmission and spreading of the virus. About 66.30% viewed that the most effective means for propagating information about the flu was via television, followed by radio, newspapers, websites, cell phones and personal acknowledgement by health officials.

In addition, the survey indicated that the majority of respondents or 80.04% had some knowledge of the H1N1 virus; 10.68% had very good knowledge and the other 7.18% admitted to being uninformed. Up to 90.61% said they were not ashamed of wearing face masks while the other 9.39% said they were.