Misinformation or disinformation has been around for centuries, ever since the creation of the free press. Misinformation is defined as false information that is spread without malicious intent.1 In contrast, disinformation has been used by governments, militaries, organizations and individuals to intentionally mislead or manipulate the narrative.1 The key difference between the 2 terms is the intent behind the spreading of the false information.
Just as the COVID-19 pandemic has uncovered inequities in health, it has highlighted the phenomenon of health misinformation. Health mis/disinformation is defined as falsely claimed health facts that are contradicted by scientific consensus.2 It is suggested that up to 80% of people seeking health information online do not know how to differentiate between health mis/disinformation and facts.3 The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unique challenges for the health system in providing accurate public health messages in the midst of the “infodemic” surrounding this pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines the infodemic as an “overabundance of information—some accurate and some not—that occurs during an epidemic. It can lead to confusion and ultimately mistrust in governments and public health response.”4 This, combined with an eroding trust in politicians, science in general, rampant conspiracy theories and the isolation of many people during this pandemic, makes conditions ripe for mis/disinformation and are serious threats to public health. Stated another way, it doesn’t take very many antimaskers or COVID-19 denialists to infect innocent others.
As pharmacists, we have the responsibility to speak up and dispel health mis/disinformation, especially around medicines. While it may be simpler to stay silent and let people figure things out for themselves, it is our duty as pharmacists and as health practitioners to dispel myths and actively educate others on health information.5,6 The classic example of misinformation that surfaced during the COVID-19 pandemic was the use of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19. While it might have been easier as pharmacists to just dispense these prescriptions and not confront the lack of supportive evidence to justify using this medication (not to mention the potential serious adverse effects), we are doing a disservice to our patients, colleagues and society that rely on us for accurate, evidence-based medication information. It bears repeating that we cannot be passive when it comes to health information.7
So, how do we navigate health misinformation?
Not ironically, the WHO describes the spreading of information like an infection.1 Figure 1 illustrates how by being good stewards of information, we can help society to “flatten the infodemic curve.”1 In this figure, you can see the spreading of misinformation through the red lines, but the continued spread is stopped by those individuals who double-checked their facts, used trusted news sources, verified rumours before passing them along or questioned sources of information. Can you see pharmacists in this important position?
Figure 1.
Ways to flatten the infodemic curve
Original figure appeared in an article in thespinoff.co.nz and was adapted by the WHO1 through Creative Commons license (CC-BY-SA 4.0).
The WHO suggests tips for addressing misinformation that we have adapted for a health context.
1) Identify the source of the information—who is providing the information, is it a reputable organization and where did they get the information from? We cannot assume that a source is sharing factual information just because they may have previously or based on an assumed trust. We need to vet every source of information before letting it influence our professional and clinical judgements in communicating to patients, colleagues or society.
2) Assess our biases—we all have biases from our upbringing, life experiences, education or information sources, and we must be aware of the assumptions that we bring into our management and care as health care professionals. Each of our perspectives is rightfully different, but we need to be conscious of when they may cloud our care decisions and seek independent and reliable secondary sources.
3) Check the publication date—health information is constantly evolving and updating based on new evidence. Information that was correct 10 years ago, 2 years ago, last month or last week may be outdated. We advocate for using health resources that are frequently updating their information.
4) Do your own research—it is important that we do not rely on summaries of evidence or news articles but make our own decisions by reviewing primary and secondary sources ourselves. This includes, for example, digging deeper than the top 1 or 2 articles that appear in a Google Scholar search or looking at databases that have critically appraised the evidence, such as Cochrane Library or UpToDate. Professional organizations are also trusted sources of information (e.g., Canadian Pharmacists Association).
We all have a responsibility to report and stop the spread of mis/disinformation. The WHO outlines how to report misinformation for different social media platforms.8 But we call for pharmacists to be good stewards of health information and actively participate in their vital role of combatting mis/disinformation.5,6 Now that vaccines are available for COVID-19, predictably, vaccine misinformation is rampant. Whether pharmacists are administering the vaccinations themselves or not, we must address vaccine and health mis/disinformation, especially while we are surrounded by the infodemic of the COVID-19 pandemic and the anxieties that bring to the public and our patients. The first step pharmacists can take is educating themselves on the myths currently circling about the COVID-19 vaccine and actively begin addressing them with their patients, colleagues and society. The Pharmacy 5in5 team has developed some resources on myth busting as it pertains to pharmacy and the COVID-19 vaccine (see https://pharmacy5in5.ca/) and sets the record straight on mRNA vaccines (Figure 2). More on this in the journal in the months ahead.
Figure 2.
Myth busting for mRNA vaccines
Reproduced with permission from Dr. K. Grindrod and Pharmacy 5in5, www.pharmacy5in5.ca.
References
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