An Exploration of How Fake News is Taking over Social Media and Putting Public Health at Risk

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This article reports on a small study which attempted to identify the types and sources of COVID‐19 misinformation.

The authors identified and analysed 1225 pieces of COVID‐19 fake news stories taken from fact‐checkers, myth‐busters and COVID‐19 dashboards.

The study concludes that the COVID‐19 infodemic is full of false claims, half backed conspiracy theories and pseudoscientific therapies, regarding the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, origin and spread of the virus. Fake news is pervasive in social media, putting public health at risk. The scale of the crisis and ubiquity of the misleading information require that scientists, health information professionals and journalists exercise their professional responsibility to help the general public identify fake news stories. They should ensure that accurate information is published and disseminated.

Source: An Exploration of How Fake News is Taking over Social Media and Putting Public Health at Risk

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    Smoking and COVID-19

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    This review assesses the available peer-reviewed literature on the association between smoking and COVID-19, including:

    1. Risk of infection by SARS-CoV-2
    2. Hospitalization with COVID-19
    3. Severity of COVID-19 outcomes amongst hospitalized patients such as admission into intensive care units (ICU), use of ventilators and death.

    Source: Smoking and COVID-19

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      Prioritising the Role of Community Health Workers in the COVID-19 Response

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      COVID-19 disproportionately affects the poor and vulnerable. Community health workers are poised to play a pivotal role in fighting the pandemic, especially in countries with less resilient health systems.

      Drawing from practitioner expertise across four WHO regions, this article outlines the targeted actions needed at different stages of the pandemic to achieve the following goals:

      1. PROTECT healthcare workers
      2. INTERRUPT the virus
      3. MAINTAIN existing healthcare services while surging their capacity
      4. SHIELD the most vulnerable from socioeconomic shocks.

      While decisive action must be taken now to blunt the impact of the pandemic in countries likely to be hit the hardest, many of the investments in the supply chain, compensation, dedicated supervision, continuous training and performance management necessary for rapid community response in a pandemic are the same as those required to achieve universal healthcare and prevent the next epidemic.

      Source: Prioritising the Role of Community Health Workers in the COVID-19 Response

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        Fighting an Epidemic of Misinformation: The Importance of Science and Learning in Dealing with Coronavirus

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        This article states that a key part of the problem of coronavirus misinformation is that the public is effectively presented with various sources of information, through different digital media platforms, sometimes from anonymous sources and other times from figures claiming to have some degree of authority or credibility. It can be difficult to discern fact from fiction. And most worryingly this happens with alarming regularity, and spurious claims can gain incredible traction with huge swathes of the public in matter of days, even hours.

        The upshot is that evidence-based science is more important than ever. In the absence of a vaccine or validated antiviral treatments, information and public health measures are the only tools we have at our disposal to stop transmission of the virus, prevent deaths and keep our health systems running.Online surveys revealed that information overload and conflicting guidance are among the biggest concerns for the public during the current coronavirus outbreak.

        Source: Fighting an Epidemic of Misinformation: The Importance of Science and Learning in Dealing with Coronavirus

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          Ajustement à bases factuelles des mesures de santé publique et des mesures sociales

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          Un rapport de lignes directrices provisoires pour les États membres de la région africaine de l’OMS concernant la santé publique et les mesures sociales pour prévenir la propagation des COVID-19.

          Source: Ajustement à bases factuelles des mesures de santé publique et des mesures sociales

            Views 593

            Seizing the Moment

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            UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic shows that 2020 targets will not be met because of deeply unequal success; COVID-19 risks are blowing HIV progress way off course. Missed targets have resulted in 3.5 million more HIV infections and 820,000 more AIDS-related deaths since 2015 than if the world was on track to meet the 2020 targets. In addition, the response could be set back further, by 10 years or more, if the COVID-19 pandemic results in severe disruptions to HIV services.

            Source: Seizing the Moment

              Views 858

              How to Fight an Infodemic: The Four Pillars of Infodemic Management

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              The World Health Organization (WHO) is presenting a framework for managing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infodemic. Infodemiology is now acknowledged by public health organizations and the WHO as an important emerging scientific field and critical area of practice during a pandemic.

              From the perspective of being the first “infodemiolgist” who originally coined the term almost two decades ago, the author posts four pillars of infodemic management:

              • Information monitoring (infoveillance)
              • Building eHealth Literacy and science literacy capacity
              • Encouraging knowledge refinement and quality improvement processes such as fact checking and peer-review
              • Accurate and timely knowledge translation, minimizing distorting factors such as political or commercial influences

              Source: How to Fight an Infodemic: The Four Pillars of Infodemic Management

                Views 989

                Framework for Managing the COVID-19 Infodemic: Methods and Results of an Online, Crowdsourced WHO Technical Consultation

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                A World Health Organization (WHO) technical consultation on responding to the infodemic related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic was held, entirely online, to crowdsource suggested actions for a framework for infodemic management.

                The first version of this framework proposes five action areas in which WHO Member States and actors within society can apply, according to their mandate, an infodemic management approach adapted to national contexts and practices. Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and the related infodemic require swift, regular, systematic, and coordinated action from multiple sectors of society and government. It remains crucial that we promote trusted information and fight misinformation, thereby helping save lives.

                Source: Framework for Managing the COVID-19 Infodemic: Methods and Results of an Online, Crowdsourced WHO Technical Consultation

                  Views 593

                  Early Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the 2020 Guttmacher Survey of Reproductive Health Experiences

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                  This report provides an initial look at newly collected data on the emerging impact of the pandemic on women’s sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and reproductive autonomy in the United States.

                  It focuses on the following indicators:

                  • Childbearing preferences
                  • Contraceptive use
                  • Access to contraception and other SRH services
                  • Telemedicine for contraceptive care
                  • Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV)

                  The authors conclude that even in the short period covered by our survey, the COVID-19 pandemic has already had an impact on women’s sexual and reproductive lives. It has affected their ability to obtain needed SRH care and contraceptive services, raised their concerns about affording and accessing this care and shifted their fertility preferences. These effects have not been evenly distributed and tend to be felt by groups bearing the brunt of existing inequities. In this way, the pandemic has illuminated systemic failings that perpetuate health and social disparities.

                  Source: Early Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the 2020 Guttmacher Survey of Reproductive Health Experiences

                    Views 949

                    How Behavioral Science Can Help Contain the Coronavirus

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                    Very little is known about how factors like fear, misinformation, stress, and social norms are shaping behaviors that affect transmission of COVID-19. Even less is understood about what might lead people to ignore government recommendations altogether.

                    To fill in these gaps, a consortium of more than 100 behavioral researchers on five continents is currently working around the clock to measure the full social and material consequences of this pandemic. Our goal is simple: to demonstrate in real time what is working—and what isn’t.

                    The study is designed in three phases. The first consists of a 20-minute-long survey taken weekly that gauges how human beings are coping during this unprecedented crisis. Questions focus on individual thoughts, feelings, concerns and motivations, and how COVID-19 affects everything from faith in leaders to attitudes toward migrants. More than 45,000 people in 100 countries have taken the survey in 22 languages, and the study leaders are registering additional respondents every day.

                    Source: How Behavioral Science Can Help Contain the Coronavirus

                      Views 611