Question

"The World Health Organization (WHO) is leading the effort to slow the spread of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. But a global epidemic of misinformation—spreading rapidly through social media platforms and other outlets—poses a serious problem for public health. “We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic”, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the Munich Security Conference on Feb 15."

Conduct some research by searching online resources or other resources to identify at least 2 ways organizations or individuals can contribute to combatting the infodemic. Include evidence of planned or current action

Answer 1

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world in an unprecedented way. From the orgin of the disease in China itself, we were bombarded with information. Never in the history of mankind has it been easier to spread information or misinformation as it is now. There is indeed an epidemic if misinformation out there. In a time like this the reputed health organisations should actively take part to dispel the load of misinformation that is circulating out there.

One of the major issues is that a lot of social miscry are spreading misinformation under the label if these organisations. There are social media forwards out there that give false advice under the pretext of sound advice from WHO.

Healthcare agencies should have a broader online presence and coverage to ensure that harm doesn't come out if such misinformation.

Some of the ways this can be done is:.

• Increase social media presence. The CDC Facebook page has done this in an excellent manner. It has been regularly updating and informing the public about what has to be done, what are the misinformation out there and what are the new evidences out there.
• Social media vigilance should be practiced and healthcare agencies nshould actively dispel the messages spread in their name. WHO has given out clarifications in multiple occasions denying messages that were falsely posted in their name. This will encourage public to be more wary and prevent them from believing information from less reliable sources.