The current coronavirus pandemic shows how widely, and quickly fake news and misinformation can spread. To fight this, a team from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden developed a way to debunk misinformation by explicitly focussing on falsehoods rather than just simply stating facts. The work was done looking at misinformation surrounding a typhoid outbreak in Sierra Leone, but the researchers believe it would be just as valid for Covid-19 (1).
“Misinformation, amplified by social media, is a growing public health challenge. It can potentially reduce protective actions, encourage risky behavior and with that, promote the spread of infectious diseases,” said Dr. Maike Winters, from the Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet. “Fortunately, our study shows that there are effective tools to counter its impact and spread.”
The study looked at two types of interventions to counter the widely-held belief that mosquitoes cause typhoid and always occurs with malaria. The reality is, although symptoms can be similar, these are two different diseases. Typhoid is mainly transmitted via contaminated water and food, while malaria is, in fact, caused by mosquitoes. Despite the differences, it’s common for patients to be diagnosed with typhoid-malaria, mainly because doctors cannot test for each disease. However, this only serves to perpetuate the belief that both diseases occur at the same time.
To fight these myths, the team recruited local actors to play doctors and nurses in a 4-episode audio series that was distributed on WhatsApp. They developed two campaigns to deliver this information: the first option mentioned directly the problem with misinformation and provided detailed information to correct it, while the second focussed just on providing accurate information but did not discuss the issues with misinformation.
Over 700 adults from Freetown, in Sierra Leone, were divided into two groups and completed a survey about typhoid before and after listening to one of the drama series. The team observed that the number of participants who answered incorrectly regarding typhoid being caused by mosquitoes dropped in both cases, but more strongly in the group that watched the counterarguments. These people also reported they would take more preventative measures, including drinking only treated water to reduce the risk of getting typhoid. The team found no evidence that addressing false information might inadvertently help spread it.
“These findings advance our understanding of the effectiveness of public health messaging strategies about a specific health-related myth that is not subject to politicized debate,” said Winters. “If the same strategies would work to reduce beliefs in heavily polarized misinformation surrounding COVID-19 remains unknown, but is definitely worth exploring.”
(1) Winters M, Oppenheim B, Sengeh P, Jalloh M, Webber N, Pratt S, Leigh B, Alvesson H, Zeebari Z, Sundberg C, Jalloh M, Nordenstedt H (2021) Debunking highly prevalent health misinformation using audio dramas delivered by WhatsApp: evidence from a randomised controlled trial in Sierra Leone. BMJ Global Health, doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006954