Ghana Infodemic Management Project kicks off
-
by
AFENET
In Ghana (like other countries), as the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved, information, questions, myths, misinformation, disinformation, evolving science, and news updates have saturated media outlets and social media leading to confusion and decreasing demand and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines.
This is affirmed by the WHO, who stated that the COVID-19 outbreak and response have been accompanied by a massive infodemic: an overabundance of information – some accurate and some not – that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it. Infodemics result from an overabundance of information, including false or misleading information, during a disease outbreak or public health emergency. Infodemic Management is the systematic use of risk- and evidence-based analysis to reduce negative impacts on health behaviors. Infodemic management activities include the following:
1) Social listening to understand the public’s questions, concerns, narratives, and misinformation;
2) Delivering high-quality health information and programming;
3) Intervening through design, implementation, and evaluation;
4) Promoting resilience, healthy behaviors, and community engagement;
5) Strengthening planning, policy, and public health systems.
As a result, AFENET Ghana successfully conducted a kickoff meeting for the Infodemic project kickoff. The project seeks to enable the Ghana Health Services and Ghana, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and partners, to identify and respond to Infodemics related to COVID-19 vaccination through the establishment of a self-sustainable Infodemic management/insights team that is fully integrated into the MOH structure.
The team selected will do the following:
- Train a multidisciplinary Infodemic management team
- Build a social listening and Infodemic management system and methodology.
- Develop a system for implementing evidence-based interventions to increase confidence and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines that can be leveraged for future vaccination efforts.
- Support implementation of short-term evidence-based interventions to increase COVID-19 vaccine confidence and uptake
The meeting brought together all partners and stakeholders involved in Infodemic Management in Ghana. The meeting facilitated discussions on how this project will be implemented while streamlining the roles and activities of the different partners.
