Enhancing the role of health communication in the prevention of infectious diseases.

Despite the recognized importance of health communication for disease prevention, a gap in knowledge was becoming apparent as regards the extent and nature of its use at the European level to support prevention and control of infectious diseases. To address this gap, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) commissioned in 2009 a consortium of universities to undertake a 3-year research project called "Translating Health Communications." The outcomes of this project comprise 2 major areas: (a) primary information gathering to provide insights into how health communication activities are currently being used for communicable disease prevention in the European Union and European Economic Area and (b) synthesis of knowledge on the evidence of use and application of health communication approaches. The overview of main findings of the project presented in this article highlights the many challenges that remain and the various areas of opportunity in order to raise the profile of health communication in the prevention of infectious diseases in the European context.