PAHO Forges Partnerships To Dispel COVID-19 Misinformation

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director, Dr. Carissa Etienne, says the entity is forging partnerships with several social media entities as part of efforts to dispel misinformation regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19), particularly vaccines.

Speaking during PAHO’s COVID-19 digital briefing on Wednesday (April 21), Dr. Etienne informed that the undertaking involved collaborations with Facebook, Google and Twitter, among others, pointing out that these engagements aim to ensure that the public “can easily find accurate information”.

Dr. Etienne said misinformation is “most damaging” when it fuels vaccine hesitancy.

She noted that for more than 100 years, vaccines have saved millions of lives and spared generations from infectious diseases such as smallpox, polio and measles.

The Director contended that COVID-19 vaccines are no different and are currently helping to “turn the tide” of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The vaccines delivered through [the World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility] have been thoroughly assessed by the WHO experts. The benefits of these vaccines in preventing infections, hospitalisations and deaths outweigh the risk of side effects,” she further said.

Dr. Etienne pointed out that reports of unexpected side effects from vaccines are “very rare”, adding that decisions by some regulatory bodies to conduct further analysis “demonstrate… that our surveillance systems are working”.

“We rely on surveillance systems to see how medicines and vaccines affect populations, so we can understand extremely rare adverse events and adapt our strategies, when needed,” the Director said.

She emphasised, however, that every person in a vulnerable group who is hesitant to get vaccinated “can become part of the sad statistics… that is, one of the thousands of deaths that occur daily due to COVID-19”.

“Vaccines are saving lives now and will contribute to controlled transmission in the near future when we achieve high immunisation coverage. While we maintain strict public health measures to avoid infections, getting vaccinated is a powerful action we can and should take to protect ourselves, our families and our communities from this virus,” Dr. Etienne emphasised.

Describing misinformation as “one of the most serious threats to… public health”, Dr. Etienne said each person has a role to play in stopping rumours from spreading online or in conversations.

“When we read or hear something that seems outlandish or impossible, it probably is. Before sharing something, we owe it to each other to check the source and confirm that the information is true,” she added.