HHS on Nov. 9 released a toolkit healthcare providers can use to stop the spread of COVID-19 misinformation. The resource was developed by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, as part of the federal agency's vaccine marketing campaign for children ages 5 to 11.
Four details:
- The toolkit offers healthcare providers tools to help patients evaluate the accuracy of health-related content, tips on how to talk to loved ones about misinformation, an outline of common disinformation tactics and examples of encountering misinformation and how to react to it.
- "With the authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for children 5 to11 years old, it is more important than ever that families have access to accurate, science-based information. Health misinformation is spreading fast and far online and throughout our communities," Dr. Murthy said. "The good news is that we all have the power to help stop the spread of health misinformation during this pandemic and beyond. That’s where this toolkit comes in — to provide Americans with resources to help limit and reduce this threat to public health."
- Dr. Murthy issued an advisory July 15 that highlighted how misinformation has deterred Americans from exercising COVID-19 protocols and getting vaccinated, prolonging the pandemic and putting lives at risk.
- The advisory called on technology and social media companies to "take more responsibility" to combat the proliferation of online health misinformation.