Understanding the Infodemic

By : Global Rheumatology by PANLAR
14 January, 2021
https://doi.org/10.46856/grp.232.e054
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This is an open-access article distributed by the terms of the Creative Common Attribution License (CC-BY NC-4). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forms is permitted, provided the original author(a) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with this terms.

The COVID-19 outbreak has been accompanied by what the WHO classifies as infodemic. Inaccurate information that disseminates through social networks and apps and has negative effects on the population.

In an era of hyperconnectivity, of close relationship with apps and social networks and what they represent in terms of immediacy and reach, an overload of information has been generated in which it is often not possible to identify what is fake from what is real. This is the origin of two terms that have been far busier in recent months: infodemic and fake news. 

The infodemic, along with the COVID-19 pandemic, is rapidly spreading around the world. This “overabundance of information” available on the web unfortunately includes inaccurate information deliberately intended to deceive, which specifically impacts on health in aspects such as proper public health management, detrimental for the physical and mental health of people, as well as stigmatization and the promotion of non-sanctum interests of certain groups or individuals.  

Its impact has been such that at the World Health Assembly in May 2020, the Member States of the World Health Organization recognized the need to manage infodemic as a critical issue in the fight against COVID-19.

Doctors Diego Jaimes and Carlo Vinicio Caballero will be joined by Estefanía Fajardo de la Espriella, social communicator and scientific journalist and member of the editorial team of our journal Global Rheumatology, and Frederic Llordachs, innovative physician, serial entrepreneur, specialist in health care and co-founder of one of the most successful digital strategies in our realm: Doctoralia.

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