Communication During Health Crises - Translating Sciences to Policy and Manage the Infodemic

Contact Person : Margaux Mathis, mathism@who.int

29
Oct

16.00 - 17.30 HRS. (BKK)

6 SPEAKERS

Communication during this COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly challenging. This is partly due to the increasing importance of social media and new technologies in the social fabric of our societies. The management of the infodemic (i.e., the overabundance of information that accompanies epidemics) requires more attention and specific interventions than in the past as fake news, scientific controversies, misinformation, and disinformation spread faster and further leading to mistrust towards institutions and science and to a negative impact on outbreak control. Communication is a broad issue that goes much beyond traditional messaging: it encompasses community engagement and empowerment and risk communication strategies as well as the interface between science and policy. This webinar will focus on lessons learned about the tools and transdisciplinary approaches that work to appropriately manage infodemics and to ensure a sustainable and effective societal response from translating science to policy.

Address the following questions:

- How to effectively translate science to public health recommendations that will be followed by communities? How to convey the right information, at the right time, to the right audience, in the right format to ensure a right interpretation?

- How to ensure healthy science debates/controversies that do not undermine public trust in science?

- What would be effective approaches to tackle the multi-faceted aspects of infodemics?

Extract 3 to 5 lessons learned regarding communication during epidemics/pandemics that will be used to develop a framework for the analysis of complex and multifaceted health crises.