The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday launched a new alliance, the Africa Infodemic Response Alliance (AIRA), to coordinate actions and pool resources in combating misinformation around COVID-19 pandemic and other health emergencies in Africa.
Landmark alliance launches in africa to fight covid
1. Landmarkalliance launchesinAfricatofightCOVID-19misinformation
03 December2020
Brazzaville - The WorldHealthOrganization(WHO) todaylaunchedanew alliance,the Africa
InfodemicResponse Alliance (AIRA),tocoordinate actionsandpool resourcesincombating
misinformationaroundCOVID-19pandemicandotherhealthemergenciesinAfrica.
Digital platformshave beeninundatedwithCOVID-19-relatedinformationsincethe pandemicbegan
inlate 2019. Informationaboutthe virushasbeensharedandviewedover270 billiontimesonline
and mentionedalmost40 milliontimesonTwitterandweb-basednewssitesinthe 47 countriesof
the WHO AfricanRegionbetweenFebruaryandNovember2020, accordingto UN Global Pulse,the
UnitedNations’Secretary-General’sinitiative onbigdataandartificial intelligence.
A large proportionof thisinformationisinaccurate andmisleadingandcontinuestobe sharedby
social mediausersintentionallyorunknowinglyeveryday.The COVID-19infodemicisamplified
online throughsocial mediabuthealthmisinformationisalsocirculatingoffline.
Measuringpreciselyhowmuchof whatiscirculatingismisinformationisdifficult,butfact-checking
organizationsinAfricasaytheyhave debunkedmore than1000 of such misleadingreportssince the
onsetof the pandemic.Some of the widelysharedmisinformationinclude conspiraciesaround
unproventreatments,false curesandanti-vaccinemessages.
“In healthemergencies,misinformationcankill andensure diseasescontinue tospread.Peopleneed
proven,science-basedfactstomake informeddecisionsabouttheirhealthandwellbeing,anda glut
of information –aninfodemic–withmisinformationinthe mix makes ithardtoknow what isright
and real.Thiscrucial newalliance bringsuniquereach,knowledgeandskillstohelpstopthe impact
of dangerousmisinformation,”saidDrMatshidisoMoeti,WHO Regional DirectorforAfrica.
Amongothers,the AfricaInfodemicResponseAlliance willworkcollaborativelytocounterfalse
informationaroundCOVID-19vaccinesandcomplementonthe groundpublichealthawareness
raisingandcommunityengagementeffortsbycreatingdemandforvaccinesinthe region.
The networkis the firstinitiative of itskindanditbringstogether13 international andregional
organizationsandfact-checkinggroupswithexpertiseindataandbehavioural science,
epidemiology,research,digitalhealth,andcommunicationstodetect,disruptandcounterdamaging
misinformationonpublichealthissuesinAfrica.
The Alliance will encourage proactivedisclosure bydataholdersandsupportjournalistsandmedia
outletstoeffectivelyshare lifesavinginformationbasedonscientificevidence anddebunk
disinformationonhealthissues.
It alsoaimsto supportindividual Africancountriesindevelopingtailoredinfodemicmanagement
strategies,includinganalysingtrendsandbehaviours,recruitingspecialistsandrefiningsystematic
engagementstrategies rootedinresearchandanalytics.
Thisinitiative putsintopractice keyrecommendationsoninfodemicmanagementthatwere
developedbyover1300 expertsfromacrossdisciplinesinearly2020 underthe auspicesof WHO’s
global InformationNetworkforEpidemics(EPI-WIN).
The Alliance membersare AfricaCDC,the International Federationof the RedCrossand Red
CrescentSocieties(IFRC),the UnitedNationsVerifiedinitiative,the UnitedNationsChildren’sFund
(UNICEF),The UnitedNationsEducational,ScientificandCultural Organization(UNESCO) andUnited