Leading Global Virologists and the Guardian Join LSHTM's Q&A Broadcast
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and WPP Health Practice have launched their fourth live Q&A broadcast, featuring world renowned virologists Prof Peter Piot and Dr John Nkengasong. The Q&A was moderated by the Guardian’s health editor, Sarah Boseley.
The series – whose initial broadcast on 3rd March was one of the first live Q&As to give a global audience direct access to experts during the Coronavirus pandemic – has so far attracted 116,200 views on Twitter and YouTube alone. In the UK, the third broadcast was profiled alongside the government's Covid updates on Twitter, resulting in 67,000 views on the LSHTM Twitter feed. For the fourth broadcast, Twitter featured a link to the 'Covid-19: How to Protect Yourself' page.
In total, the series has generated well over 7.1 million interactions with 17 million views across all social platforms including Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, WeChat and Tiktok in China.
Katie Steels, head of communications and engagement at LSHTM, said: “I am delighted with the success of our live broadcasts. We are thrilled to have been able to open up the access LSHTM gives global governments and NGOs on a daily basis to a wider audience. Without doubt this pandemic has highlighted the importance of the work our teams do around the world. Our partnership with WPP Health Practice has helped us share their insight further, enabling us to maximise our social and digital platforms and extend our reach and impact.”
The format has been adapted for the Chinese audience, giving over 20 million physicians and public in China access to the LSHTM experts through a series of seminars broadcast on WeChat and TikTok, managed by WPP Health Practice brand, Sudler, in China.
Claire Gillis, WPP Health Practice international CEO, added: “The world has had a crash course in epidemiology and virology over the past few months – and our eyes have been opened to its complexities. Thanks to our partnership with LSHTM, we’ve been able to open up access to some of the world’s leading scientists during the pandemic – allowing more people to see, hear and understand their important insight. The language of science has never been more important and it’s a privilege to collaborate with global leaders such as LSHTM to extend their voice.
