Eroding public trust

The public is a blind victim towards the pervasiveness of poor-evidenced health information which contributes to evitable unfavourable circumstances, wasted public health infrastructure and resources and overlooked opportunities.

Rapid evolution of the technological age has transformed communication with easily available platforms to share and request information. Google has slowly been integrating into our lives for the past 22 years and the number of Google searches related to health exceeds 70,000 per minute. This is greatly revolutionising the healthcare industry. These digital fashions have expanded the engagement of healthcare professionals during this risky time in which economic disparity has shrunk budgets and threatened the state’s capacity to reach the public with critical information.

Although it is remarkable that we have such an effortless and speedy access to healthcare, how much of this information is actually relevant and accurate? Digital stages are inadvertently becoming gateways for misinformation. Social media is spreading more propaganda by the day, eroding public trust.

Recently in Pakistan, posts on social media regarding the Senna plant spread like wildfire only to be claimed as misleading hours later as it is not a cure for the deadly Covid-19. The pandemic has been exceptionally burdensome for the public and at this vulnerable time, misinformation is proving to catch them at their weakest. Fake reports of a new poultry disease linked to Covid-19 have also been observed circulating across many cross-messaging platform applications and this strategic disinformation poses a colossal threat to public health communication across the nation and places mistrust towards governmental and healthcare authorities. What should the public believe?

Furthermore, it is no secret that most pharmacies offer easy uncomplicated provisions of medicine for the general public let alone healthcare workers. Consider the average Pakistani without a medical degree, desperate and vulnerable to the pandemic: will they believe random circulating disinformation and purchase prescription medication for their dying Covid-19 positive family member which does more harm than good? This is not a black and white situation. They lack the ability to discern the accuracy of the information that is presented to them.

The public must learn to condition themselves to identify the signs of inaccurate information. It is important to check facts, verify sources of information, trust official platforms like the WHO, the UN or national and local health authorities and be cautious of the ever so increasing scams.

But that can only go so far. The government must launch campaigns to work towards increasing literacy in health and through the media, allow people to successfully identify sources of accurate information. The provincial governments must collaborate with local public and private media outlets which are greatly trusted by the general public to work towards broadcasting reliable information that they can share confidently and with assurances. Consistent communication of these sources will develop a trusting audience.

As we have entered into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, technology and social media platforms are here to stay. It is critical to work towards reducing misinformation and also providing fast channels for the public to obtain trustworthy health-related data and to verify information that seems doubtful. We must urgently work towards depleting scamming websites that offer false narratives to the public. And if that seems like a long shot, then we must educate the public to identify them and be smart about where to gather information from. This is something we can dodge with combined efforts with the government and work towards a well-informed community.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2020.

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