• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

Nigeria Health Watch partners Meedan to counter misinformation on COVID-19 in Nigeria

COVID-19 in Nigeria

Concerned by the rapid spread of misinformation around the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, Nigeria Health Watch has entered into a partnership to counter misinformation around the virus and other public health challenges.

Through the partnership, information related to COVID-19 in Nigeria will be monitored to identify false claims, which can lead to significant consequences for individual and public health.

The spread of misinformation during disease outbreaks is a global issue and has been identified as such by the World Health Organisation.

False or misleading information around preventions, treatments and cures can be dangerous for the public’s health, and can cause confusion and panic, experts say.

Thus, there is an urgent need for collaboration to address widespread misinformation, as governments are tackling the double epidemic of misinformation and COVID-19.

“Misinformation poses a threat to the public response to outbreaks, eroding the public’s trust, and their willingness and ability to take preventative measures,” said Vivianne Ihekweazu, managing director at Nigeria Health Watch in a statement.

“Nigeria Health Watch uses informed advocacy and communication to influence health policy and seek better health and access to healthcare in Nigeria. We seek to amplify some of the great work happening in the health sector, challenge the bad, and create a space for positive ideas and action,” she said.

According to her, the project will apply insights from collated data to create evidence-based media campaigns to counter COVID-19 misinformation.

 “Through its various platforms, Nigeria Health Watch is a trusted source that provides informed commentary and in-depth analysis of health issues in Nigeria, always in good conscience,” said Ihekweazu.

Nigeria Health Watch will leverage Meedan’s team of experts to produce multimedia messages that debunk misinformation around COVID-19. The messages will include context and background information that is key to safely communicating debunks to misinformation.

Also speaking during the partnership agreement, Nat Gyenes, Meedan Digital Health Lab lead, said that as we are learning each day, information and misinformations about the COVID-19 pandemic are spreading in online ecosystems as rapidly as the virus itself is spreading around the world.

He emphasizes that as the county witness strained access to health experts during emergencies, such as the one we are experiencing, can quickly lead to poor health outcomes, as low-quality information exacerbates the real-world spread of disease.

“Meedan is a technology not-for-profit that builds software and designs human-powered initiatives for newsrooms, NGOs and academic institutions. The Digital Health Lab is our initiative that focuses on improving the quality and equity of online health information.

“We are researching, designing and testing a digital response framework for addressing health misinformation,” Gyenes explained.