Transparent scientific reporting is imperative during the pandemic

ABSTRACT

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed not only the lack of preparation to combat the deadly disease, but also the nature of response by governments worldwide. This article analyses how some governments suppress science reporting in the Asia Pacific region during the pandemic. It also highlights how the political interference in science undermines liability and openness leading to the lack of freedom to express facts honestly.

Scientists have an obligation to report facts rationally to the scientific community, and only then can journalists effectively communicate scientific findings to society. Scientific research involves the exploration of truth and therefore scientists need to maintain integrity [1], but the suppression of science by certain governments has become conspicuous during the coronavirus pandemic [2]. Political interference in scientists’ research endeavors, including the suppression of data and manipulation of reporting scientific facts undermines accountability, transparency and truth. The politicization of science has been reported to occur more frequently in recent years across continents, compromising scientific freedom and integrity [3]. This has continued through the current pandemic and this commentary highlights recent cases involving political interference with scientific reporting in Asia.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the worldwide health care agenda, and at a time when no government wants to see negative reports appearing in the media and social media, it has created panic among some scientists since they are increasingly worried about truthfully reporting their findings. In some instances, when the reporting goes against a government’s expectations or when scientists rationally question lockdowns, quarantines and curfew measures, the consequences can be alarming.

India enforced a lockdown as a countermeasure to reduce transmission from 24 March to 31 May 2020, but the disease transmission curve sadly continued to go upward for several months. India had the second largest infections in the world with over 10 million cases and over 150,000 deaths as of January 2020 (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html). Renowned epidemiologists with extensive knowledge of past epidemics were not consulted by the government [4]. In addition, scientists have faced restrictions from politicians and policymakers on reporting the reality on the ground.

A science reporter wrote an online article on the impact of COVID-19 in New Indian Express titled ‘Centre’s COVID-19 communication plan: Hold back data, gag agencies and scientists’. The piece was provocative and explained how scientists were silenced by officials to not speak or write about the pandemic [5]. However, the newspaper removed the article the following day without any explanation from the writer and publisher. More recently, scientists from the India’s top medical entity, the Indian Council of Medical Research, have alleged that they were not permitted by their Director General to publish serological survey data highlighting COVID-19 disease hotspots across ten major cities since the Ministry of Health did not approve the publication of the results [6].

Scientists have criticized the government for supporting Hindu pride promoting pseudoscience. The Department of Science and Technology encouraged research studies on cow dung and urine to confirm their therapeutic values to cure diseases, including for the COVID-19. Also, 50 traditional medicine companies were falsely advertising traditional medicines as immunity boosters to cure the coronavirus. This violates the government order passed in March 2020 that explicitly prohibits false publicity (https://www.ayush.gov.in/docs/121.pdf). To make matters worse, the Chief Minister of India’s largest state, Uttar Pradesh, stated that people can prevent COVID-19 infection through controlling mental stress by means of yoga [7]. India has a tradition of using yoga and ayurvedic medicines to enhance human health and to ease diseases [8]. But, a scientific report has declared that the experiments done in India are 25 times more likely to result in positive conclusions than other countries [9]. Problems associated to India’s traditional medicine research include lack of randomized controlled clinical trials, weak sample size, inadequate group comparisons, toxicity risks and safety concerns [10,11]. Therefore, randomized controlled clinical trials are promptly needed to vigorously validate the claims of yoga and ayurvedic medicines to mitigate COVID-19.

Similarly, China has reportedly tightened its control of data related to COVID-19 research, meaning that scientists no longer have freedom to publish their papers without their results being screened first by government officials [12]. For example, an article on the epidemiology of COVID-19 was retracted by the journal, Practical Preventive Medicine, published in China. The article reported on the transport authority’s fears on how COVID-19 could spread within air-conditioned buses. Another article appeared in the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology which showed data on false positive test results that questioned the testing tool’s quality. The government resented the negative depiction as it directly affected the business of exporting testing kits abroad. The research paper was hurriedly retracted by the journal. Both journals and authors did not explain why their valid articles were quickly retracted and this has raised the possible explanation that it is due to government intimidation [13]. When journals are reluctant to report truthful data, and when the gatekeepers to scientific publication are no longer the scientific community, who will uphold scientific integrity?

The above cases portray science reporting challenges during the coronavirus pandemic in the Asia Pacific region, which holds the majority of the global human population. The scientific community at large must preserve the tradition of upholding ethics, honesty and transparency to promote critical inquiries. Accountability must be taken earnestly by scientific journals and publishers since sustaining science without ethics will become futile in the quest for excellence. Offsetting interference in science must be critically debated across disciplines so that the political process can have its place in science with clear-cut limitations resembling the judiciary followed in established democracies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.