I'm forwarding this (below) from the IFLA Evidence for Global and Disaster Health group, of whichI'm a member, with thanks to Carol Lefebvre. I would like to encourage HIFA members to join this event and share your observations with us. We can also use HIFA itself to discuss the issues. How can we combat health misinformation, restore trust in science and create a hopeful future?
My response to this is: I firmly believe that the first priority to combat misinformation is not to fight it, but to build solidarity towards universal access to reliable healthcare information. Every person should have access to the information they need to protect their own health and the health of others. People also need help to differentiate reliable information from misinformation (I think it is a sad indictment of the global community that one of the most promising initiatives to do this - Health On The Net Foundation - has been discontinued due to lack of funding). We urgently need high-level political and financial commitment for universal access. The World Medical Association and its 10 million physicians have declarerd their commitment to this. We now need explicit commitment from other stakeholder groups, including other health professionals, library and information professionals, publishers, researchers, patient representatives and all actors in the global evidence ecosystem. The system continues to be dysfunctional, all the more so because of social media. We need leadership and solidarity to fix it. We need explicit commitment and more action from the World Health Organization. HIFA stands ready to help bring stakeholders together towards universal access. We shall soon be launching a global stakeholder consultation to hear your views.
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Read online: https://www.nobelprize.org/events/nobel-prize-summit/2023
Truth, Trust and Hope
24-26 May 2023
Washington, DC
In-person and virtual
Registration for day 1-2 now open
How can we build trust in truth, facts and scientific evidence so that we can create a hopeful future for all?
Misinformation is eroding our trust in science and runs the risk of becoming one of the greatest threats to our society today.
Join us at this years’ Nobel Prize Summit which brings together laureates, leading experts and you in a conversation on how we can combat misinformation, restore trust in science and create a hopeful future.
#NobelPrizeSummit
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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
