This presentation teaches how to understand the impact of rumors on programs and operations, and offers techniques to capture and address them.
Managers
Misinformation on COVID-19 in rural Nigeria was widespread. Rumors included that only those in cities, Egyptians, the rich, or people over 40 could get sick. In addition, rumours spread that alcohol consumption could prevent COVID-19 (based on the use of alcohol hand sanitizer), or that eating raw garlic could prevent it.
"Since July 2020, Internews’ Rooted in Trust project has collected close to 20,000 rumours from seven project countries: Afghanistan, Lebanon, Philippines, Colombia, Central African Republic, Mali, and Sudan. We work in 12 local languages and collect data across seven major social media platforms and a wide range of feedback collection channels, including door-to-door surveys, informal meetings, assessments, community meetings, listening groups, SMS, and radio call-in shows."
"Health misinformation is not a peculiarity of the 2020s. From rumours in Nigeria in the early 2000s that polio vaccinations were a conspiracy, to allegations that the 2015 Zika crisis in the Americas and Asia-Pacific was man made, there is a long history of health misinformation. This briefing reviews some of the key episodes and possible solutions.
"Following the first global infodemiology conference held in July 2020, WHO and partners coordinated a joint call for papers with five academic journals representing different scientific fields, all related to components of the science behind managing infodemics. [Early in 2021] the first of these academic journals published its special infodemic feature. The research findings contribute to filling the knowledge gap identified through the WHO public health research agenda for managing infodemics released [in February 2021]."
Internews developed rumor tracking methodology in 2014 in Liberia during the Ebola outbreak. Since that time their teams have used rumor tracking in order to deal with misinformation during various crises, benefiting thousands of people.
"This document is written for humanitarian or public health organizations as well as national governments seeking to document rumors in a systematic and dynamic fashion."
During the Ebola outbreak in Liberia in 2015, the international community quickly created a series of wide-scale social behavior change communication campaigns, a typical approach in humanitarian aid. This resulted in campaigns that bombarded local populations with massive but poorly coordinated blasts of messaging on billboards, in print, on radio and TV, through health outreach workers and community organizations, via SMS and call-in hotlines.
"The internet has become a popular resource to learn about health and to investigate one's own health condition. However, given the large amount of inaccurate information online, people can easily become misinformed. Individuals have always obtained information from outside the formal health care system, so how has the internet changed people's engagement with health information?
"Although some media outlets have begun referring to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus as a “modern plague”, the threat of COVID-19 remains negligible compared with historic outbreaks of plague.
