Convened by DataLEADS, the Misinformation in Medicine Summit is hosted by the Google News Initiative as a part of the APAC Trusted Media Summit 2020. The event on November 20 and 21, 2020, brings together journalists, medical experts, technologists and fact-checkers to discuss the proliferation of misinformation in health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and effective ways to combat the epidemic.

The misinformation on coronavirus is spreading faster than the pandemic in most countries. From miracle treatments and falsified claims about the vaccines to unsubstantiated reports of preventive measures, the COVID-19 outbreak is an ‘infodemic’ – that is not only fuelling uncertainty, but also claiming countless innocent lives in many parts of the world.

We need to take collaborative and proactive steps to fight the epidemic of fake news and misinformation related to health, which has become more pervasive in the COVID-19 era. As an initiative to bring together leaders in the media, technology and healthcare sectors to examine the problem of misinformation and build collaborations to find solutions, DataLEADS is organising the third edition of its flagship ‘Misinformation in Medicine Summit’ on November 20 and 21, 2020.

Power-packed deliberations

The summit, hosted by the Google News Initiative as a part of the APAC Trusted Media Summit 2020, has over 10 insightful sessions to examine pertinent issues related to medical misinformation, particularly in the context of the pandemic and what can be done to tackle these challenges. Fact-checking, media literacy and initiatives undertaken by social media giants like Facebook, Google and TikTok are among the key topics at the centre of the conversations.

The list of speakers, panellists and moderators at the two-day event includes prominent leaders from journalism, technology and healthcare, namely Dr. Arash Rashidian, Director of Science, Information and Dissemination, WHO/EMRO; Dr Rosamund Lewis, Health Sciences Lead, Infodemic Management, WHO; Dr. K Srinath Reddy, President, PHFI India; Dr. Faisal Sultan, Special Assistant to Pakistan Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health; Simon Bland, CEO GLIDE, Abu Dhabi GLIDE; Martina Kaiser, Policy Advisor Global Health at Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung; Dr. Altaf Lal, Public Health Specialist; Ellen McCutchan, Editor, CoronaCheck; Dr Ahmad Firdaus, Co-founder, Medical Mythbusters Malaysia; Motunrayo Joel, Deputy-editor, Africa Check, Nigeria; Subhra Priyadarshini, Chief Editor, Nature India; Marie Helly Head of BBC’s Beyond Fake News; Irene Jay Liu, APAC Lead, Google News Lab; and Ying Chan, Founding Director, Journalism and Media Studies Centre, Hong Kong University, to name a few.

The journalists, academics, technologists, and experts in media literacy, advocacy, policy, and more will collectively look at the big picture of misinformation in medicine while addressing how to identify and combat the issue on a day-to-day basis.

In it together

The summit is designed to strengthen the dialogue on fighting misinformation in the health and consolidate collaborative networks of fact-checkers, medical professionals and journalists. Participants have the opportunity to engage with a broad network of stakeholders, facilitating knowledge-sharing and new partnerships in fact-checking.

The summit covers a wide range of topics, including ‘What solutions do digital technologies and platforms bring in responding to mis/disinformation during the pandemic?’, ‘Science and its role in responding to the infodemic’ and a series of lightning talks on ‘what does it take to fact-check medical misinformation?’ and ‘What India and Africa want to know about health’.

“This is our third summit on medical misinformation. The aim is to bring different stakeholders including health leaders, policymakers, technologists, media practitioners and fact-checkers together to identify solutions to tackle misinformation in health and medicine,” said Syed Nazakat, Founder & CEO of DataLEADS.

In order to arm journalists with the finest tools and techniques needed to engage in investigative health reporting, the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) will release a comprehensive guide on ‘Investigating Health and Medicine’ at the two-day event.

The summit – supported by Media Programme Asia of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Australia India Institute, the GIJN and Judith Neilson Institute – is a timely effort to find implementable solutions for policy-makers, public health think-tanks, journalists, fact-checkers and newsrooms who have been at the frontlines of the misinformation crisis.

“We’re grateful to our partners and participants who have registered from over 50 countries for demonstrating faith in this important initiative and being part of our pioneering movement to build a new discourse in health,” asserted Syed Nazakat.

In light of the grave consequences of health misinformation during the ongoing pandemic, this is a timely effort to find implementable solutions for policy-makers, public health think-tanks, fact-checkers and newsrooms who have been at the frontlines of the misinformation crisis.