WHO/Sam Bradd
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Infodemic

    Overview

    An infodemic is too much information including false or misleading information in digital and physical environments during a disease outbreak. It causes confusion and risk-taking behaviours that can harm health. It also leads to mistrust in health authorities and undermines the public health response. An infodemic can intensify or lengthen outbreaks when people are unsure about what they need to do to protect their health and the health of people around them. With growing digitization – an expansion of social media and internet use – information can spread more rapidly. This can help to more quickly fill information voids but can also amplify harmful messages. 

    Infodemic management is the systematic use of risk- and evidence-based analysis and approaches to manage the infodemic and reduce its impact on health behaviours during health emergencies.

    Infodemic management aims to enable good health practices through 4 types of activities:

    • Listening to community concerns and questions
    • Promoting understanding of risk and health expert advice
    • Building resilience to misinformation 
    • Engaging and empowering communities to take positive action

    Subscribe to the  Infodemic Management News Flash to receive latest biweekly updates from the team.


    Leadership

    Member States have recognized the importance and need of an infodemic response through recent resolutions, coming together in solidarity and responding to calls for actions. Therefore, WHO is building partnerships across all societies to respond to the COVID-19 infodemic and is developing country tools for infodemic management that can be used now and for future infodemics.

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO has worked with the UN family, tech sector, media, civil society and other amplifying communities to understand concerns, co-develop messages, extend the reach of health information, and to respond to the information needs of communities. WHO has also worked with academia to develop a public health research agenda for infodemic management, and with a diverse group of experts to develop a competency framework and trainings in infodemic management.

    WHO is championing universal access to credible health information, and building resilience to misinformation for people worldwide. At the same time, more efforts are needed to better understand the scale of the infodemic, and impact of strategies used to manage it, in order to develop new toolkits for countries.

    Through regional networks, such as the Africa Infodemic Response Alliance, WHO is fostering new approaches to meet changing needs for an evolving health emergency infodemic response. This is providing a foundation for further collaborations to also improve preparedness and early detection of emerging and resurgent health threats. 

    Research & innovation

    WHO is working with partners across society to strengthen the scientific discipline of infodemiology. The purpose is to build and deliver sustainable tools that health authorities and communities can use to prevent and overcome the harmful impacts caused by infodemics.

    Through partnerships, WHO works to bolster digital capabilities and leverage social inoculation principles to foster higher digital and health literacy, build resilience to misinformation, and deliver innovative ways to reach communities with reliable health information. Here are a few of those innovations:

    To advance progress on infodemiology, WHO regularly convenes the global community for conferences to discuss and chart ways forward on infodemic management topics.

    Highlights

    Infodemic management course series

    The course series provides an overview of the strategies, good practices, methods and tools that infodemic managers and all interested health workers can use in the field to prevent, prepare for and respond to this phenomenon.

    Access the course series here

    Infodemic management news flash

    The news flash contains a summary of the latest news, events, opportunities and research in infodemic management, it's published on a bi-weekly basis.

    Subscribe | Read previous issues

    Publications

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    WHO/UNICEF How to build an infodemic insights report in 6 steps

    Within a noisy information environment that affects people’s perceptions, attitudes and health decisions, there is oftena gap between health guidance...

    Key points Train health workers, who are often the most trusted source of health information, to better identify and address health misinformation. Tailor...

    5th virtual WHO infodemic management conference meeting report: steps towards measuring the burden of infodemics

    This report summarizes the themes emerging from wide-ranging discussions at the 5th WHO Infodemic Management Conference, which was virtually conducted...

    WHO global conference on communicating science during health emergencies, Geneva, Switzerland, 7–25 June 2021 (‎virtual meeting)‎: meeting report

    The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how much science and evidence-based public health measures can affect people’s lives. Journalists, healthcare...