In April 2019, Ratodero Town, District Larkana, faced an HIV epidemic. The outbreak dominantly affected children and exposed deep-rooted stigma against people living with HIV (PLHIV). A hybrid community engagement and mass communications project, Sujaag (meaning 'to-awaken'), was launched in Larkana District to address stigma against PLHIV and their caregivers. 
Formative research conducted in Ratodero Town, with 404 participants (F=179, M=210, T=15), outlined negative perceptions about children and adults living with HIV (scores of 67% and 69% respectively). Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) (F=34, M=36) revealed communities' fears to be rooted in perceived social concerns. Sujaag employed mass communications tools - branded vehicles, television advertisements, and social media  - along with immersive community engagement via Theater of the Oppressed, health awareness sessions, and community dialogues. A four-month-pilot phase, implemented in Ratodero Town, helped adapt activities for scale, for the entire district. 
The post implementation survey, with 395 respondents, (F=155, M=235, Trans=5) highlighted that 45.8% were exposed to at least one programmatic medium, revealing Sujaag's pronounced reach. Those exposed had an aggregate score differential of 11% higher than those not-exposed, showing moderate to high HIV knowledge and perceptions. FGDs (F=35, M=40) showcased Sujaag successfully tapping into communities' beliefs and attitudes towards PLHIV.
Sujaag combines the depth of community engagement with the breadth of mass communications. In Pakistan, previous HIV campaigns have focused on medicalized and fear-based messaging, Sujaag took a lived experiences lens, resulting in improved HIV knowledge, and positive perceptions of PLHIV.

The magnitude of the COVID-19 crisis has put in stress test mode the knowledge, practices, and even self-confidence of public health workers. Most of us had studied the possibility of a pandemic in books and preparedness plans. But seeing this hypothesis coming to reality in our lifetime has often hit our professional certitudes. In parallel, an infodemic was exploding, composed of an overload of information, more or less accurate and false, scientific knowledge not developing as fast to feed the needs of the modern digitized information ecosystem. 
Through a narration based on a personal experience sharing and where unicorns and elephants have predominant roles, this talk outlines how a training experience using innovative, simple methodologies can provide both knowledge and mental health support to health experts even in the middle of a pandemic.
The talk illustrates successful methodologies of capacity and network building thanks to the example of the first WHO Global infodemic managers training held in November 2020. The training, developed by Tina Purnat of WHO and Elisabeth Wilhelm of US CDC, introduced innovative concepts and methods of infodemic management. Its design, including a four-week-long simulation exercise, was heavily influenced by recent human-centered and emotional design research.
Up to date (April 2022), this training and the following ones have allowed the creation of a network of 800 infodemic managements professionals from more than 133 countries.