Misinformation, how to combat it and its impact on public health - Dr. Amed Awan, MD, MPH

Dr. Amed Awan, MD, MPH discusses misinformation and its impact on medicine and public health. Misinformation and purposefully spread disinformation is being widely posted on social media with little review of its validity. People spend an average of two and a half hours on social media every day. Over 70% of those in the United States use social media daily. Disinformation is prevalent, exemplified by the Washington Post publishing a leaked document which states only 1% of fake Russian social media profiles are caught. The COVID-19 pandemic has been politicized and there are political motives for disseminating disinformation. The consequences are staggering. We know that more than 1.1 million individuals have died of COVID-19. As of May 2022, there were over 318,000 vaccine preventable deaths. Individuals whose deaths were largely caused by mis and disinformation. Health Watch USA(sm) meeting. May 19, 2023.