Nigeria infodemics management team working to build trust during Public Health emergencies – FG

The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), has said that the Nigeria Infodemics Management Team (NIMT), is working to build trust during Public Health emergencies in the country.

Mrs Ezioma Madu, Head Advocacy, Social Mobilization, (FMOH), said this at the end a four-day Nigeria Infodemic Management Team Review Workshop, on Saturday in Kano.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop also provided an opportunity to share experiences from state infodemic management teams, a step-down learning from the 2022 Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Morocco and review the Nigeria Infodemic Management Operational guidelines.

Madu said that the COVID-19 pandemic incited an unprecedented infodemic highlighting the impact of misinformation, disinformation, and information disseminated with mal-intent on the effectiveness of public health action and national health security.

She said that the four-day workshop examined the country’s public health infodemics, the COVID-19 infodemic, the impact of infodemics on trust in the public health enterprise, and tools and practices to address infodemics.

She said that the workshop built on what is known about risk and crisis communication to generate actionable, targeted insights that state-, local-, and community-based organisations and officials can take to prevent and respond to the negative health effects of an infodemic.

“Specifically, participants and discussants developed a shared understanding of the modern health information ecosystem and examined the impact of infodemics during public health emergency (PHE).

“We examined the public health skills, capacities, and policies that are needed to manage infodemics during a PHE and throughout the disaster management cycle.

“We identified the roles, responsibilities, and partnerships among all relevant organizations and agencies in managing infodemics during a PHE,” she explained.