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Tangcharoensathien V, Calleja N, Nguyen T, Purnat T, D'Agostino M, Garcia-Saiso S, Landry M, Rashidian A, Hamilton C, AbdAllah A, Ghiga I, Hill A, Hougendobler D, van Andel J, Nunn M, Brooks I, Sacco PL, De Domenico M, Mai P, Gruzd A, Alaphilippe A, Briand S. Framework for Managing the COVID-19 Infodemic: Methods and Results of an Online, Crowdsourced WHO Technical Consultation. J Med Internet Res 2020; 22:e19659. [PMID: 32558655 PMCID: PMC7332158 DOI: 10.2196/19659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 236] [Impact Index Per Article: 59.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2020] [Accepted: 06/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background An infodemic is an overabundance of information—some accurate and some not—that occurs during an epidemic. In a similar manner to an epidemic, it spreads between humans via digital and physical information systems. It makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it. Objective A World Health Organization (WHO) technical consultation on responding to the infodemic related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic was held, entirely online, to crowdsource suggested actions for a framework for infodemic management. Methods A group of policy makers, public health professionals, researchers, students, and other concerned stakeholders was joined by representatives of the media, social media platforms, various private sector organizations, and civil society to suggest and discuss actions for all parts of society, and multiple related professional and scientific disciplines, methods, and technologies. A total of 594 ideas for actions were crowdsourced online during the discussions and consolidated into suggestions for an infodemic management framework. Results The analysis team distilled the suggestions into a set of 50 proposed actions for a framework for managing infodemics in health emergencies. The consultation revealed six policy implications to consider. First, interventions and messages must be based on science and evidence, and must reach citizens and enable them to make informed decisions on how to protect themselves and their communities in a health emergency. Second, knowledge should be translated into actionable behavior-change messages, presented in ways that are understood by and accessible to all individuals in all parts of all societies. Third, governments should reach out to key communities to ensure their concerns and information needs are understood, tailoring advice and messages to address the audiences they represent. Fourth, to strengthen the analysis and amplification of information impact, strategic partnerships should be formed across all sectors, including but not limited to the social media and technology sectors, academia, and civil society. Fifth, health authorities should ensure that these actions are informed by reliable information that helps them understand the circulating narratives and changes in the flow of information, questions, and misinformation in communities. Sixth, following experiences to date in responding to the COVID-19 infodemic and the lessons from other disease outbreaks, infodemic management approaches should be further developed to support preparedness and response, and to inform risk mitigation, and be enhanced through data science and sociobehavioral and other research. Conclusions The first version of this framework proposes five action areas in which WHO Member States and actors within society can apply, according to their mandate, an infodemic management approach adapted to national contexts and practices. Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and the related infodemic require swift, regular, systematic, and coordinated action from multiple sectors of society and government. It remains crucial that we promote trusted information and fight misinformation, thereby helping save lives.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Neville Calleja
- Directorate for Health Information and Research, Ministry for Health, Valetta, Malta
| | - Tim Nguyen
- High Impact Events Preparedness, Global Infectious Hazards Preparedness, Emergency Preparedness, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Tina Purnat
- Department of Digital Health and Innovation, Science Division, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Marcelo D'Agostino
- Information Systems for Health, Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health, Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas, Washington DC, DC, United States
| | - Sebastian Garcia-Saiso
- Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health, Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Mark Landry
- Department of Health Systems Development, Regional Office for South-East Asia, World Health Organization, New Delhi, India
| | - Arash Rashidian
- Department of Science, Information and Dissemination, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, World Health Organization, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Clayton Hamilton
- Division of Health Systems and Public Health, Regional Office for Europe, World Health Organization, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Abdelhalim AbdAllah
- Communications Department, Regional Office for Africa, World Health Organization, Brazzaville, Congo
| | - Ioana Ghiga
- Global Infectious Hazards Preparedness, Emergency Preparedness, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Alexandra Hill
- Global Infectious Hazards Preparedness, Emergency Preparedness, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Hougendobler
- Global Infectious Hazards Preparedness, Emergency Preparedness, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Judith van Andel
- Department of Digital Health and Innovation, Science Division, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | - Ian Brooks
- Center for Health Informatics, School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, United States
| | - Pier Luigi Sacco
- Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento, Italy.,Venice Office, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Venice, Italy.,The University Institute for Modern Languages, Milan, Italy.,Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Manlio De Domenico
- Complex Multilayer Networks (CoMuNe) Research, Center for Information and Communication Technology, Bruno Kessler Foundation, Trento, Italy
| | - Philip Mai
- Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Anatoliy Gruzd
- Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - Sylvie Briand
- Global Infectious Hazards Preparedness, Emergency Preparedness, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
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Gopinathan U, Watts N, Hougendobler D, Lefebvre A, Cheung A, Hoffman SJ, Røttingen JA. Conceptual and institutional gaps: understanding how the WHO can become a more effective cross-sectoral collaborator. Global Health 2015; 11:46. [PMID: 26596963 PMCID: PMC4657201 DOI: 10.1186/s12992-015-0128-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2015] [Accepted: 10/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Two themes consistently emerge from the broad range of academics, policymakers and opinion leaders who have proposed changes to the World Health Organization (WHO): that reform efforts are too slow, and that they do too little to strengthen WHO's capacity to facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration. This study seeks to identify possible explanations for the challenges WHO faces in addressing the broader determinants of health, and the potential opportunities for working across sectors. METHODS This qualitative study used a mixed methods approach of semi-structured interviews and document review. Five interviewees were selected by stratified purposive sampling within a sampling frame of approximately 45 potential interviewees, and a targeted document review was conducted. All interviewees were senior WHO staff at the department director level or above. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data from interview transcripts, field notes, and the document review, and data coded during the analysis was analyzed against three central research questions. First, how does WHO conceptualize its mandate in global health? Second, what are the barriers and enablers to enhancing cross-sectoral collaboration between WHO and other intergovernmental organizations? Third, how do the dominant conceptual frames and the identified barriers and enablers to cross-sectoral collaboration interact? RESULTS Analysis of the interviews and documents revealed three main themes: 1) WHO's role must evolve to meet the global challenges and societal changes of the 21st century; 2) WHO's cross-sectoral engagement is hampered internally by a dominant biomedical view of health, and the prevailing institutions and incentives that entrench this view; and 3) WHO's cross-sectoral engagement is hampered externally by siloed areas of focus for each intergovernmental organization, and the lack of adequate conceptual frameworks and institutional mechanisms to facilitate engagement across siloes. CONCLUSION There are a number of external and internal pressures on WHO which have created an organizational culture and operational structure that focuses on a narrow, technical approach to global health, prioritizing disease-based, siloed interventions over more complex approaches that span sectors. The broader approach to promoting human health and wellbeing, which is conceptualized in WHO's constitution, requires cultural and institutional changes for it to be fully implemented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Unni Gopinathan
- Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
| | - Nicholas Watts
- Institute of Global Health, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Daniel Hougendobler
- O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, USA.
| | - Alex Lefebvre
- Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
| | - Arthur Cheung
- School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
| | - Steven J Hoffman
- Global Strategy Lab, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
- Department of Global Health & Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics and McMaster Health Forum, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
| | - John-Arne Røttingen
- Division of Environmental Health and Infectious Disease Control, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
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Gostin LO, Sridhar D, Hougendobler D. The normative authority of the World Health Organization. Public Health 2015; 129:854-63. [PMID: 26100341 DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2015.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2013] [Revised: 05/01/2015] [Accepted: 05/02/2015] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
The World Health Organization (WHO) was born after the devastation of World War II, as a normative agency endowed with unprecedented constitutional powers. But even as it has achieved stunning successes, such as the eradication of smallpox, it has failed to live up to the exalted expectations of the postwar health and human rights movement - exemplified most recently by its inadequate response to the Ebola epidemic. Our aim is to offer innovative ideas for restoring the Organization to its leadership position by exercising its normative authority, even as it faces a crowded and often chaotic global health architecture. Before doing so, it will be helpful to summarize the main tensions the Organization faces in today's global health landscape.
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Affiliation(s)
- L O Gostin
- Georgetown University Law Center, Law Center, 600 New Jersey Ave., NW, Washington, DC, USA.
| | - D Sridhar
- Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, USA
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Gopinathan U, Hougendobler D, Watts N, Cuadrado C, Guinto RR, Lefebvre A, Meganathan S, Wanjau W, Jorem J, Habibullah NK, Asilia P, Mushtaq UA. Rethinking the foundations of global governance for health: the youth response. Lancet 2014; 383:e16-7. [PMID: 24872256 DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(14)60766-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Unni Gopinathan
- Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway.
| | - Daniel Hougendobler
- Georgetown University Law Center, O'Neill Institute of National and Global Health Law, Washington DC, USA
| | - Nick Watts
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Cristóbal Cuadrado
- Institute of Population Health, School of Public Health, University of Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - Renzo R Guinto
- Universal Health Care Study Group, University of the Philippines Manila-National Institutes of Health, Manila, Philippines
| | | | - Saveetha Meganathan
- Department of Social Work, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Waruguru Wanjau
- University of Nairobi, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Jacob Jorem
- Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim and Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | | | - Peter Asilia
- Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
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Gopinathan U, Cuadrado C, Watts N, Guinto RR, Hougendobler D, Wanjau W, Lefebvre A, Jorem J, Jiang X, Habibullah NK, Meganathan S, Mushtaq UA. The political origins of health inequity: the perspective of the Youth Commission on Global Governance for Health. Lancet 2014; 383:e12-3. [PMID: 24524783 DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(14)60050-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Unni Gopinathan
- Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway.
| | - Cristóbal Cuadrado
- Institute of Population Health, School of Public Health, University of Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - Nick Watts
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Renzo R Guinto
- Universal Health Care Study Group, University of the Philippines Manila-National Institutes of Health, Manila, Philippines
| | - Daniel Hougendobler
- Georgetown University Law Center, O'Neill Institute of National and Global Health Law, Washington DC, USA
| | - Waruguru Wanjau
- University of Nairobi, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
| | | | - Jacob Jorem
- Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim and Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Xiaoxiao Jiang
- Harvard School of Public Health Breast Cancer Initiative, Beijing, China
| | | | - Saveetha Meganathan
- Department of Social Work, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
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Taylor A, Alfvén T, Hougendobler D, Buse K. Nonbinding Legal Instruments in Governance for Global Health: Lessons from the Global AIDS Reporting Mechanism. J Law Med Ethics 2014; 42:72-87. [PMID: 26767478 DOI: 10.1111/jlme.12120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Recent debate over World Health Organization reform has included unprecedented attention to international lawmaking as a future priority function of the Organization. However, the debate is largely focused on the codification of new binding legal instruments. Drawing upon lessons from the success of the Global AIDS Reporting Mechanism, established pursuant to the United Nations' Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, we argue that effective global health governance requires consideration of a broad range of instruments, both binding and nonbinding. A detailed examination of the Global AIDS Reporting Mechanism reveals that the choice of the nonbinding format makes an important contribution to its effectiveness. For instance, the flexibility and adaptability of the nonbinding format have allowed the global community to: (1) undertake commitments in a timely manner; (2) adapt and experiment in the face of a dynamic pandemic; and (3) grant civil society an unparalleled role in monitoring and reporting on state implementation of global commitments. UNAIDS' institutional support has also played a vital role in ensuring the continuing effectiveness of the Global AIDS Reporting Mechanism. Overall, the experience of the Global AIDS Reporting Mechanism evidences that, at times, nimbler nonbinding instruments can offer benefits over slower, more rigid binding legal approaches to governance, but depend critically, like all instruments, on the perceived legitimacy thereof.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allyn Taylor
- Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and an Adjunct Professor of International Relations at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
| | - Tobias Alfvén
- Works as Strategic Information Adviser in the Department for Strategic Information & Evaluation at UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, headquarter in Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Hougendobler
- Law Fellow at the Georgetown University O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law in Washington, D.C
| | - Kent Buse
- Chief of Political Affairs and Strategy at UNAIDS in Geneva
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