Citation, extracts and a comment from me below.
CITATION: Opinion: Oversimplified efforts to counter health misinformation are missing the mark
BMJ 2025; 388 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.r393 (Published 27 February 2025)
Cite this as: BMJ 2025;388:r393
'The challenges of health misinformation go beyond countering false claims...
'Science driven health guidance is outpaced by rapidly evolving online conversations and often falls short of people’s information needs...
'We identify three outstanding concerns that limit an effective response to the complex problem of health misinformation.
'A cacophony of definitions
Firstly, we need more clarity and consistency in definitions to assess and foster a healthier information environment. Many words describe the quality of information: untrustworthy, low quality, unverified, unbalanced, contradictory, deceptive, or sensationalised, among others. But each conveys a different value judgment and thus frames the problem differently. Misinformation is false or inaccurate information. Disinformation is deliberately false information, spread for political or monetary gain.
'Medicalising a systemic challenge to health
Secondly, we should not individualise a problem that is structural, as has been done with many issues in public health. This can lead to individualised solutions, ignoring the complex dynamics at play. It is important to focus on the root causes of the problem, not simply treat how it manifests on an individual level that is easier to observe.
'More complex than communications alone
Thirdly, the covid-19 pandemic demonstrated the limited success of trying to communicate our way out of mis- and disinformation, showing how complex and contextualised the problem is. Persistent focus on factual public health information and “better comms” alone will set us up to fail.
'We must understand how users seek health information and services online, engage them there, and respond to their concerns and information needs, but recognise we have an audience watching..
COMMENT (NPW): I agree with the above, except with their assertion that 'a focus on factual public health information... will set us up to fail'. The key is to ensure that everyone has access to relevant, reliable healthcare information, and is empowered to know the difference between such information and misinformation.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org